Queen Bee
by swirlheart
Summary: Boruto notices there's something strange going on in the village and it might have something to do with Shino's new crush, as if a lovesick sensei wasn't strange enough. Rated T to be safe. It's got humor, adventure, mystery and a touch of romance. Please read and review.
1. Chapter 1

**Queen Bee**

Summary: Boruto notices there's something strange going on in the village and it might have something to do with Shino's new crush, as if a lovesick sensei wasn't strange enough. Rated T to be safe. Please read and review.

Boruto and its characters are owned by Masashi Kishimoto and Mikio Ikemoto. This is just a fanfiction written for fun. No profit is being made.

The character of Hachi is an OC made up for this fiction. I only own Hachi and my imagination.

Please enjoy the fiction! ^-^

**Chapter 1:**

Boruto kept grumbling about how their latest mission was almost too easy and a complete waste of time, though it had already been completed and they were now returning to the Leaf.

"You don't have to keep bringing it up," said Sarada. "It's over with. Let it go."

"Come on, Big Bro," Boruto said to his sensei. "We finally started getting some worthwhile missions and now we're back to pointless finding a person's lost pet and manual labor? Let's get back to the action, you know."

"Boruto, every mission is important and I keep telling you to call me sensei," said Konohamaru.

"Yeah, but why are we back to doing all these super easy ones? We didn't do anything wrong so why are we being punished?"

"You're not being punished. I told you, every mission is important. Even Chunin get called to do missions that aren't all flashy and dangerous. And for Genin, it's the same way. You get a little harder mission here and there then you're back to doing easy ones. Just enjoy it. Think of it as a break before you get a difficult one thrust upon you."

"But I want one now. I'm sick of having to chase after some dumb cat or help an old geezer with his fence. Can't he call a carpenter for that instead of ninja?"

"These missions are also teaching us life skills we may need in the future; I keep telling you that." Sarada adjusted her glasses. "No mission is a waste."

"Don't give me that attitude," Boruto whipped around. "You want a more challenging mission, too. Just admit it. You want to prove yourself."

"Well, at least I'm not proving myself to be a real pain, unlike someone I could mention," she retorted, putting her hands on her hips. "It's not very mature to keep whining about it. Maybe that's why we keep getting baby missions, because you keep acting like a spoiled brat."

"Ha! You just said 'baby missions', so that means you agree with me!"

"I never said I agree with you!"

Mitsuki's head swiveled back and forth to keep up with the rapid-fire of retorts from his teammates. "I believe Boruto just missed the point of her statement."

Konohamaru just sighed with a hand to his forehead.

"Sensei?"

"What?" Konohamaru responded to Mitsuki's voice.

"No. Not you. Shino-sensei."

"What?" Konohamaru looked around.

Mitsuki pointed. "There."

Sure enough, Shino was moving between shrubs to get back onto the main road.

"Oh, I see now."

Shino started to disappear behind some trees and curiosity propelled Konohamaru forward along with the rest of the group.

"Shino," he called.

Feet back on the path, Shino stopped and turned his body. "Oh. Hello."

"You here on a mission?"

"Yes. I was asked to come personally," Shino answered.

"I didn't think you got called out for missions," said Boruto. "Don't really see you outside the classroom, you know?"

"Idiot. Even teachers can get called out for missions," hissed Sarada. "They're shinobi, too, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

A villager interrupted the group to ask Shino a question about his investigation.

"I've looked around. You shouldn't have any problems from here on out," Shino assured.

"Oh, what a relief. Thank you. I have your payment for you if you stop by my building."

"I'll be right there."

"Just finishing up?" Konohamaru asked.

Shino nodded. "I have to wrap things up here and then I'll be returning to the Leaf Village."

"Great. We can go together."

"Need any help?" Boruto butted in. "What's your mission on? Hunting down bandits? Rescuing hostages?"

"Nothing like that," Shino explained. "Bugs."

"Bugs?"

"A certain species' population decreased lately and they wanted me to investigate. Turns out it was the plant life that was making them ill."

"That's it?" Boruto asked with a raised brow.

"I told you even Chunin and Jonin get called out on not so dangerous missions," Sarada boasted smugly.

"Good thing I checked it out," Shino went on. "In time, the situation would start impacting humans negatively. The plants I found were mixed among others and the combination of which would be toxic. The villagers said they were landscaping and moved some things around. That's when they noticed the insects and started to wonder if it was a problem. I told them it could be if no action was taken. But things are sorted now."

"But they're just bugs," said Boruto. "Wouldn't most people he happy that they're not around? They're called pests for a reason."

"Perhaps some but it also goes to show the ignorance of people. Without certain species, humankind will face starvation within a decade."

Shino spun around, stunned. Usually he was the one saying such things but this time a woman's voice answered the child's question.

A blond woman was carrying a satchel over her shoulder. She was looking right at them so she must have been the one he heard.

"You know about insects?" Shino asked.

"I should. I'm an entomologist," she answered, striding over in her knee-high black boots and tight striped shirt.

"I… I am, too," said Shino, staring at the woman about his age.

"Really?" She chuckled and looked to the side. "Must be odd for you to find a woman interested in such a subject. Most find it creepy or disgusting."

"I bet they tease you about it."

"For most of my childhood. Called me things like 'weirdo' and 'bug lover' or…"

"Bug nerd?"

"Yes."

"Me, too."

"You got that, too, growing up?"

"Even now sometimes," said Shino, a smile on his face.

"I would leave my window open at night with the light on to see what would fly in so that I could study it."

"I collected beetles from the woods in insect cases."

"The kind with the handle on top?"

"Yes. The plastic box and the…"

"Little vents on the colored lid?"

"Yes. Yes."

"It drove my family nuts so I had to use those containers, too. Any insect not in a case they would squish."

"How cruel."

"But with the case, I could get excellent detail for my sketchbook. It wasn't like my family would allow me to keep them, so I would sketch them and release them back into the woods when I was finished."

"With the classification, habitat and diet written in the ledger?"

"And then some."

Konohamaru's group watched silently as Shino got better acquainted with the blond woman before their eyes. It wasn't long before Shino started chuckling between trivia and further questions.

Boruto leaned over to Konohamaru and whispered, "What is happening?" with a look of unease in his eyes.

"I'm Hachi," said the woman.

"My name's Shino. Shino Aburame."

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Hachi extended her hand to shake his.

Shino took her hand but wasn't in full control, allowing several of his insects crawl from under his sleeve and across the back of her palm. Either he had been nervous or his bugs were picking up on his new emotions and came to investigate of their own accord.

"Oh, sorry, I…"

Instead of pulling away or swatting at the bugs, Hachi came in closer. Pulling his arm up to eye-level, she examined his insects with fascination.

"Oh, wow! Are these parasitic insects?"

Shino gaped before answering. "How did you know..?"

"You said you were an Aburame, right? I've heard that there's a ninja clan with that name who can house insects in their bodies, like a living hive. I thought it was just a rumor. Something you hear from people passing by and stuff like that."

"M- my family… My family can do that. We house the insects and they obey us."

"Sounds more symbiotic than parasitic if you ask me."

"The parasitic part refers to the fact that they consume chakra," explained Shino. "In battle, I unleash a swarm on my opponent to feed on their chakra and weaken them."

"That's incredible. I'd love to hear more about it. You're a fascinating person, Shino."

"I… I am?"

"Aside from this ability of yours, you must have come across countless insects in your time. Missions and things like that. I've never left this region so all my knowledge comes from books when not referring to ones indigenous to this area. And in return, I'll show you some of the sketches I've made. I have a book with me now. But you've probably already seen such ones…"

"I'd love to."

"Really?"

"Of course."

Konohamaru put his hands on the shoulders of his young Genin to gently usher them away.

"We'd better get going," he whispered.

"But Shino-sensei was just wrapping up. I thought we were going together," complained Boruto.

"He knows the way. Let's go."

"You don't have to be polite about it. I'll remind him."

"He doesn't need reminding."

"Then why all the rush to get going?"

"Honestly, Boruto, are you that clueless?" Sarada sighed, keeping her eyes away from Shino and on the road ahead.

Mitsuki kept watching, seemingly fascinated by what was going on. "Hm. Shino-sensei was never so cheerful when we were around."

"That's because he found something more interesting. Now let's go," Konohamaru hissed through his teeth as he pushed the boys away.

"Sensei, are you becoming ill like those insects? Your face is getting red."

"Move!"

* * *

Here's the first chapter. Hope you like it so far.

Please review! ^-^


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2:**

"No fooling?"

"It's true. Shino-sensei has a girlfriend."

"For real?"

"There's no way."

"Oh, is that that was happening?"

"Mitsuki, you were there. Didn't you get what was going on?"

"I understood it, I just didn't realize it moved so quickly."

"Sarada, quit telling everyone that Shino-sensei has a girlfriend. I bet he just really liked her because they had stuff in common. If anything, he's got a crush. I doubt they became a couple that quickly."

"Did you see the look on his face, Boruto? I'm telling you, he's got a girlfriend."

As soon as they returned to the Leaf Village, Sarada proceeded to inform all their friends what they had witnessed. Most couldn't believe it and others were shocked and thrilled at the same time. Boruto just sat back with his arms folded behind his head, choosing not to read too much into it.

"Girls are especially fascinated with the prospect of romance, aren't they?" remarked Mitsuki.

"Sarada thinks she's so mature, but she's a gossip like everyone else."

"So you're saying gossip is more common for people our age?"

"It's schoolyard stuff. No big deal," said Boruto, looking away. "Just something kids do, you know?"

At the same moment, Ino was squealing her head off in the flower shop up the street.

"Shino has a girlfriend? Are you serious?"

Konohamaru had just finished telling his circle of friends what he had seen and word was quickly spreading so he figured he might as well inform all of Shino's friends as well while he was at it.

"Where did they meet?" Sai asked, tending to the flowers with his wife.

"In the village we passed through. It all happened so quickly. They really hit it off."

"You think it's serious? Should I start making plans?"

"Easy, Ino. I doubt he'll propose to her after a day."

"But he still hasn't returned to the village yet," pointed out Sai. "You think he'll extend his stay even though his mission is over?"

"He's got a new mission now," Ino giggled. "This is so exciting. I bet we'll be seeing a lot of him in the shop from now on, buying flowers for his sweetheart."

"That'll be good for business, but…" Sai looked at Konohamaru. He knew his wife was a hopeless romantic but he wasn't so sure about Shino. Sai was nervous Ino might try to push Shino into something he wasn't prepared for or mistake his relationship for her own.

Aside from being a romantic, she could also be obsessive.

Konohamaru rubbed the back of his head. Maybe he shouldn't have gossiped so soon after it happened. He might have misread the situation or maybe Shino decided to take things in a different direction after they had left.

One thing was for sure: he shouldn't have told Ino after seeing a slight drop in sales that week.

* * *

That evening, Konohamaru spotted Shino sitting at an outdoor café with a cup of tea in his hand. He was alone at the table with a wistful expression on his face, resting his chin on his left hand.

"Hey, you're back," Konohamaru greeted.

Shino looked up and nodded his head.

"So how'd it go?"

"The mission was decent. I already informed the Hokage."

"I meant with the girl."

"Hachi? Oh, well, um… Ahem. It was nice." He was blushing.

"And..?" Konohamaru pried smugly.

"We talked for hours. I had to run back here to make it before nightfall and give my report." Shino couldn't shake the smile. "We have so much in common yet she's a mystery. I didn't want to leave."

"You could have brought her back here."

"Well, it was such short notice and I would have had to get permission… I just…" Shino took a sip of tea.

"Uh-huh."

Shino slowly lowered his cup. "It's not like I hadn't thought of it. But…"

"She obviously likes you. And you like her."

"I do."

"Then..?"

Shino set his cup down before continuing. "I don't know."

"Are you going to see her again?"

"Don't know."

"Well, you know where to find her."

"Wouldn't that be creepy?" Shino asked. "Just showing up at her place? With no notice? Even with notice, it seems a bit…"

"Shino, you finally found someone who's as into bugs as you are and you're telling me you're not going to pursue this?"

He shrugged. "Again, it's not like I haven't thought of it."

"So..?"

He sighed. "Don't know."

"That's not an answer."

"I like her but… it's different."

"Why? How is it different?" Konohamaru asked.

An insect crawled across the back of Shino's hand. "It just is. I can't put it into words. Not exactly."

Konohamaru didn't pressure him any further. Clearly, this was Shino's first love. He had to process his emotions and figure out what he was going to do. No one else could tell him.

"I understand."

"Thanks." Shino gave Konohamaru a brief pat on the shoulder before returning his hand to his cup.

"Hi, Shino!" Ino came up to their table with a big smile on her face. "How was your date? When's your next one? You're going to buy her flowers, right? Girls love flowers."

Shino turned to Konohamaru. "Does everybody know about this?"

Konohamaru gave a nervous grin. "Well, it's not exactly a common occurrence."

"Exactly," said Ino. "You never date, so this is huge news."

Shino sighed into his tea.

* * *

Word finally reached Boruto's mother and she was a little shocked to learn that Shino had his first crush.

"I don't think it's ever happened when we were together on missions," she said to herself as she carried the plates to the table. "He was always so quiet and kept to himself."

"Really?" Boruto could hardly picture it.

"In his youth, he was very stoic," Hinata went on. "But he was so sensitive, too."

"I know he's sensitive."

"Yes, but he could hide it better before, I think." She smiled. "I think you and your friends really helped Shino get out of his shell, Boruto."

"I don't believe it." He took a seat at the table beside Himawari. "How'd you find out, anyway?"

"Sakura told me. She heard it from Ino."

"Is Shino-sensei's love life all anyone can talk about?"

"You have to admit it is interesting. He's never had serious interest before. Not as far as I can tell. I'm happy for him."

"Didn't you say your other teammate is dating somebody?"

"Yes, but that's not so unbelievable."

Boruto began to load up his plate with food, tired of the conversation.

* * *

"I hope he gets married."

"To drum up business at the flower shop?" Sai asked his wife.

"Not just that," said Ino, "but to have an excuse to dress up in something fancy and go dancing."

"You know I've never been much of a dancer."

"You dance just fine, darling." Ino smiled and winked at him. "And the fast songs don't require a partner."

"I like the slow songs."

"Yeah?"

"Mm-hmm. So I have an excuse to cuddle up to you."

Ino started blushing hard. "What are you doing, saying such things all of a sudden?" She fidgeted, energy bubbling up and spreading throughout her entire body. "Come on, you… You know…"

"Plus, you have a way of steadying me," Sai finished.

He meant this in two ways. One was in the more literal sense, seeing as, though a ninja, he was concerned his movements weren't fluid when set to music and he didn't want to trip or step on her toes. In the other sense, having Ino with him had a way of calming his nerves and gave him reassurance. Even if he was a terrible dancer, she wouldn't leave his side for anyone else.

Ino gave Sai a kiss on the cheek. Sai rested his head on hers, enjoying the quiet calm of the moment. They knew how to make each other feel loved without words.

Inojin came into the room, wondering if dinner was ready yet and having big news to tell his parents.

"You know what Sarada was telling everyone today? She said as she was coming back from a mission, she saw…"

"Shino's dating someone," Ino couldn't contain herself.

"You already know?" Inojin looked down. "Huh. I thought it was only a rumor but if even the adults know…"

He wasn't sure if it was totally true or not but if even his parents knew, then there must have been some truth to it.

"I just can't picture Shino-sensei on a date."

"Neither can I," said Sai. "But I'm sure people thought the same thing about me a while back."

"I hear wedding bells!" Ino sang, pumping her fist into the air.

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3:**

The buzz of gossip from yesterday seemed to have subsided by morning. Either Shino had set everyone straight or it was old news by now and nobody cared.

Boruto left his house to find his friends so they could hang out on their day off. When he finally found them, it seemed even they no longer cared about Shino's maybe-maybe-not date.

Aside from Inojin, at least.

"Mom's already making plans but I don't think she's even talked to Shino-sensei."

"Plans for what?"

"A relationship. Possibly even marriage."

"Why?"

"Who knows?" he said with a shrug. "When Mom gets fixated on something, it's hard for her to drop it. She's always been into romance but I think she also wants to drum up business at the flower shop."

"But your family's shop is doing fine," said Shikadai. "I'm always seeing people come in there for birthdays and anniversaries and stuff like that. And let's face it. As long as men make mistakes, there will always be a need for flower shops."

"Apology bouquets?"

"Yup."

"Chocolate works, too."

"Not if a woman is watching her figure. Then you're really starting something."

"Come on, guys," Boruto complained. "I thought we were going to hang out and do something fun. Not chat about stupid things like that."

"You're right."

"Yeah. I just had to say something about it because Mom wouldn't stop going on and on."

The trio went to the game store to look at the new games and collectables. A new game wouldn't be released for three months but they had plenty of advertisements for it and freebees for anyone who preordered, which Boruto was giving serious consideration to doing.

As they rummaged through the shelves, they overheard various conversations from the patrons moving in and out of the store. Most of it concerned games and their difficulty level and other conversations were about where people were going to eat. Then there was one that got Shikadai's attention.

"You should tell the Hokage about that."

"Why?"

"Maybe he didn't get the shipment or it was an oversight on his part."

"I'm not going to complain to the Hokage for a bucket of missing screws."

"But if you're short on that much…"

"I bet it was some punk kids pulling a prank."

"All the more reason you should tell him about it."

"It's not like there's a shortage. There's more."

"But it's your shop. People come to you to buy those things."

"Correction: it's my family's shop. I haven't taken it over yet."

"Even so…"

Shikadai listened to the conversation at his back with mild interest. It sounded like a shop was missing a bucket of screws, possibly a hardware store, but was brushing it off as no big deal.

An entire bucket would be pretty difficult to smuggle out of a store unnoticed and Shikadai couldn't imagine a kid stuffing his pockets with screws, even for a prank. The man must have left it unattended and someone made off with it or the man simply misplaced it.

It was an odd thing for certain and it clearly baffled the man, otherwise he wouldn't be complaining about it. Shikadai had to agree with the man that it was hardly the sort of thing to bring to the Hokage's attention. The leader of the village had other things to worry about.

* * *

Shino had been bombarded with questions by the other instructors as soon as he came into the school the next morning to do some paperwork. Even Iruka had a few questions for him, smiling all the while.

"No one was ever this interested in me before I found a woman with commonalities," he said, already tired of the attention.

"Well, when you were my student, I never saw you express any interest in girls or even try to get their attention. Just about everyone else did. Naruto was interested in Sakura, Sakura and just about every other girl was interested in Sasuke. Kiba wanted attention from the girls in general. But you were different."

"Why single me out?" Shino asked. "Shikamaru had no interest in girls either at that age. As I recall, he was quite verbal about it."

"True. But I don't know. It's just… you, I guess."

Shino frowned. "In other words, I'm not very appealing? I'm creepy? Because I'm me, no girl would ever be interested and I lack basic human emotions?"

"No, not at all."

"If my parents hadn't gotten together, I wouldn't be here."

"I'm not saying you're lacking in any way or that you can't get a girl. You just never perused them before."

"I had more important things to worry about. Besides, I'm of the philosophy that if it happens, it happens."

"Good for you." Iruka sat back in his chair. "It's just that there's no way for me to express my surprise without putting words in your mouth. You just always seemed like a loner somehow."

Shino sighed. "Well, now everyone's seeing me differently and I'm not sure I like it. Not to sound like Shikamaru or anything but it's troublesome."

"I thought you hated being ignored."

"I do, but now I'm getting the wrong kind of attention."

"And the girl?"

Shino started blushing. "Well, uh… The attention I received from her was… It was rather… Um…"

"To your liking?"

Shino blushed harder.

Iruka started laughing.

Shino tried to hide his face from view.

"Oh, don't be embarrassed. It's cute."

"Cute?"

"Well, maybe that's not the right word. Um. Let me think."

Shino put a hand to his forehead. "Can we just drop this already?"

* * *

That evening, Konohamaru joined his friends for drinks, lamenting ever saying anything about Shino's love life.

"I screwed up."

"Word would have spread even if you hadn't said anything," said Moegi.

"Even so, I think I got on Shino's bad side."

"I don't think so. You're not covered in bugs."

"Did he say anything to you?" asked Udon.

"No, but everyone has been bugging him with questions and assumptions." Konohamaru rested his chin on his hand. "I had never seen anything like it, so can you blame me for spreading the word?"

"Not really."

"But it's the man's privacy, for God's sake. Maybe I should have let him be the one to say something."

"It happened in broad daylight in front of people. Don't blame yourself. Word would have gotten around. If not you, then Boruto and his friends."

"You're absolutely right!" Konohamaru said, sitting up straight with sudden realization. "He was there, too. I bet it wasn't just me spreading the word but all of them. I don't have to take the blame for all this. They have to share in it, too."

"Don't sound so excited to throw a bunch of kids under the bus."

"But this way if Shino is mad, he'll take it out on the kids instead of me." Konohamaru suddenly sank in his seat, hands on his forehead. "Oh, that sounds awful! What kind of person am I to even think such a thing?"

"They drive you nuts. Can't blame you."

"Boruto especially. I mean, my God." Konohamaru took a big gulp of sake. "That kid's taking years off my life. I can feel them slipping away every time I see him."

Moegi giggled. "If it makes you feel any better, my kids are pretty good."

"Not helping," Konohamaru moaned into the table.

* * *

"About time you showed up," Sarada complained as Boruto sprinted to the training grounds. "Why are you so late?"

"Sorry."

"It's fine," said Mitsuki from up in the tree. "Sensei isn't even here yet, so he'll have no idea you were late."

"He's not here yet?" Boruto looked at Sarada. "Why are you lecturing me if Big Brother Konohamaru isn't here? He's the one who's late."

"Bet he's looking for you."

"Doubtful," said Mitsuki. "He hasn't shown up yet, so how would he know Boruto wasn't here?"

"He could have had a gut feeling or something. Who knows?"

"You just have to make things my fault, don't you?" Boruto grumbled.

They waited for Konohamaru to show up but he never did. After an hour, the group started to get worried.

"He did say we had training today, right?"

"He did."

"Then where is he?"

"Think he got tied up somewhere?"

"Perhaps he was called out on a mission and didn't have time to notify us," suggested Mitsuki.

"We'd better go look for him." Boruto started to leave.

"What if he shows up while we're out looking?" asked Sarada.

"If he hasn't shown up in all this time, I doubt he will in the next few seconds. Let's just ask around and see what's up."

"I agree with Boruto," said Mitsuki. "I'll help search."

Sarada sighed. She didn't want to leave the area just in case but even she was curious about where their sensei had gone. She decided to help them look for their missing sensei.

No one in the village had seen him when they asked around. However, Moegi had some information for them when they got around to asking her.

"I haven't seen him since last night," she told them. "We went out for drinks then went home. He was pretty hammered last night but it's not like he had too much. I was sure he could get home by himself. Maybe he's sleeping it off and didn't notify you about training being cancelled."

"You're sure?"

She nodded. "Mm-hmm. He was fine other than being a little wasted. I'll stop by his place to check on him if you're that worried."

Seeing as how Moegi wasn't that concerned for her friend put the group at ease and they decided to go about their business.

"He's probably hungover. And he lectures us about being responsible," Boruto scoffed.

"If Moegi's not worried then I guess there's nothing to worry about," Sarada said to herself as added reassurance.

"Boy, am I going to let Big Bro have it tomorrow when I see him." Boruto smirked. "That'll be a fun story to tell people."

"Boruto, don't be a gossip."

"What about you, Sarada? You told just about everybody about Shino-sensei going on a date."

"That's different."

Mitsuki smiled. "Apparently there is no difference between genders. Both gossip. I'll make a note of that."

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4:**

Shortly before sunset, Boruto and his friends gathered at the park to chat before going home for dinner. Boruto told everyone how he skipped training that day because his sensei was hungover and found it hilarious.

"So you had a free day, huh?" said Iwabe.

"Yeah. Too bad we wasted a bunch of time waiting for him. I'll give him an earful tomorrow about it. The guy's always lecturing me, so let's see how he likes it."

"You think he got himself lost last night, stumbling home drunk?" asked Inojin.

"Why'd you ask that?"

"I heard some people complaining in the village before. How things have gone missing or were moved late last night," said Inojin. "Drunk people tend to do some pretty strange stuff, so I was wondering if he did it. It was in his neighborhood."

"Like what?" Shikadai asked.

"What?"

"What strange stuff?"

Inojin thought a moment. "Just some guy was yelling at his neighbor about things missing from his shed and wondered if he saw anything. How a hammer was missing and wanted to know if the guy helped himself. Someone else said they were missing some nails. I remember that part because the guy was saying how it would be a real pain to replace because the store was completely out."

"Out of nails?"

"Yeah. The whole hardware store. Completely sold out and they would have to get another shipment. Kept going on and on about it."

Shikadai looked at the ground, thinking.

"Something up?"

"A guy at the game store was saying how a bucket of screws were missing from his family's shop. Blamed it on kids pulling a prank."

"That's a dumb prank," Boruto said. "Who'd swipe a bucket of screws as a joke?"

"Good question."

"I'm thinking it's related somehow," said Shikadai.

"Did you want to investigate?" Boruto asked him.

"The guy said he didn't want to bother the Hokage with it, saying it wasn't a big deal."

"If his stuff keeps getting taken, he might change his mind about it," said Inojin.

"We don't even know if it's the same guy," said Boruto. "There's some guy's shed and then a hardware store and a bucket of nails."

"For all we know, the guy just misplaced a bunch of stuff," said Iwabe. "It could happen."

"Especially if they're training someone new. Or maybe it is kids moving stuff around to make the guy think he's losing his mind."

"I still think it's a stupid thing to do. What's the point?" Boruto looked at the setting sun. "I better get home for dinner."

"Same here." Shikadai got up and stretched. "Mom hates having to call me twice for food."

The group parted ways to return home for dinner.

The next day, Iwabe went missing.

* * *

Naruto pressed his hands to his forehead, his eyes straining from all the paperwork and noise of the day.

Shikamaru came inside with more papers in hand.

"Naruto, I know you're busy, but we've been getting a lot of complaints about vandalism around the village and theft."

He lifted his head. "Really?" He looked straight ahead. "A guy came in earlier to tell me that someone took his tools. Left them out on his porch and come morning they were gone."

Shikamaru thumbed through the papers in his hand. "I got a couple reports of the same thing happening. Not so much tools as hardware supplies. Things like nuts and bolts have gone missing and screws and nails are in short supply. The hardware store is completely wiped out."

"I approved the shipment two weeks ago. They should have been here by now."

"I have documents of the delivery taking place but either they never showed up or those were the ones stolen."

Naruto sighed. "I'll have to put in another order but that'll take at least a week to get here. What about the warehouse? We should have backup supplies in there."

"I checked with the warehouse. They said everything is accounted for and they're willing to dip in to help but want to know how the stores are going through so many so quickly."

"You didn't tell them they were stolen?"

Shikamaru shook his head. "A part of me worried that if I told them that, they wouldn't be willing to part with what they have in the warehouse. Just for it to be stolen as well and having less to work with."

"And the other part?"

Shikamaru hardly paused before answering, speaking his mind. "We're not sure if it is theft or not. Some of the things can be easily explained by having them get misplaced and other things point to people playing pranks and the like. After all, no one has been found with the missing items and they seem like something hardly worth stealing in the first place."

"If they were stolen, would you leave it laying around for people to find?"

"Fair point, but I'm still not convinced. Not yet, at least."

"So this sounds like kids playing games with people?"

Shikamaru lowered the papers in his hand. "You remember when we're little kids and we would collect stuff we thought was interesting just to have? Like shiny stones or things on the ground in weird shapes. Things most people would see as garbage."

"Yeah."

"Bolts are shiny and have a smooth touch. Something kids might think are neat and want to have laying around to play with."

"And the nails and things?" asked Naruto. "You know those could be used to inflict damage on others because they're sharp."

"That may be but the nails themselves can only do so much damage without some power behind it. But nothing that could do that has been taken, so it limits what someone could do. And if they decide to use a jutsu with them in some way, wouldn't people hear or see that happening?"

"So you don't see it as a problem?"

He shrugged. "At this point, the only thing they could do with the amount of nails stolen is make a bed of nails and you can use your imagination with that. Yoga, special training, leaving it at the bottom of a pit for someone to fall into."

"The training makes me think of something Lee would do. Sit or do pushups on a bed of nails, but I doubt he would take something without permission."

"That's why I think it's some kids doing this kind of stuff," said Shikamaru. "Otherwise, it could be adults feuding with each other."

"We should still look into it just in case."

Shikamaru nodded. "Yeah, but it's not top priority. If anything else goes missing, I'll let you know and we can give it more attention."

"Sounds good to me." Naruto resumed the paperwork so he could get home at a decent hour.

* * *

There was still no sign of Konohamaru and Boruto was getting concerned. Even if his sensei did have too much to drink, he should have recovered by now.

That wasn't all.

After he finished lunch, he ran into Denki who was searching the village for his teammate.

"I can't find Iwabe anywhere. He missed training today."

"Seriously?" Boruto knew Iwabe was a bit of a rebel but he wouldn't normally skip out on training with his teammates. This was more than unusual.

"Metal went off to do his own training with his dad when Sensei dismissed us, so I'm looking for Iwabe by myself. He's not at his place and he's not at the training grounds. I'm running out of places to look. I'm only looking in his usual hangouts because it's the only logical place left to look."

"I haven't seen him but I'll help you look, Denki."

"Don't you have your own training to do?"

"No, actually," Boruto said, his eyes downcast. "Big Bro still hasn't shown up. Moegi said she'd find him but she hasn't told me anything. Maybe she's still looking..?"

"This is crazy," said Denki. "Why would they just disappear like this? And a sensei, too. Do you think Konohamaru got a mission last minute and took off?"

"Then he should have cancelled training or something. He would tell us, you know."

Denki looked at the ground. "I'm worried. What if something bad happened to them?"

"Come on, they're tougher than that. And they're in the village, last time we knew. If something happened, everyone would know about it."

Denki wasn't convinced.

* * *

Sai knocked on the door to Naruto's office. "Excuse me, Seventh. I've got a strange report I was told to give you."

Naruto looked up. "What is it?"

"The warehouse holding a number of supplies was robbed. Somebody broke in and stole a number of materials, possibly during the night."

"It happened at night and we're just learning about this in the afternoon?" Shikamaru said in annoyance.

"The owner of the warehouse was checking inventory and only noticed an hour ago. It's a big warehouse."

"What was taken?" asked Naruto.

"A large amount of lumber and metal. Some steel rods, too."

Shikamaru frowned. "Screws, nails and the like were reported missing recently. These have to be connected. Someone is building something."

"Like a treehouse?" Sai asked, raising his brow. "It's a large amount but not enough to build anything massive. They didn't even bother to steal a truck to carry it all."

"Which tells us they're not working alone. They must have accomplices." Shikamaru thought of a number of likely scenarios but only spoke of the most probable. "They could have brought their own truck or they simply had the numbers to carry all the materials. Those things are heavy. You said it was a large amount, but it was small enough to escape the owner's notice for this long."

"So where's that leave us?"

"They probably didn't leave the village," concluded Shikamaru. "The guards at the gate would have noticed. And that stuff isn't easy to get over the wall. A large group would be noticed and a truck would make a lot of noise. With this information, I'd say the materials haven't left the village."

"You're saying they're waiting for their chance to leave with the stuff? But now that they know we know it's missing, they'll probably realize that it will be very difficult for them to leave the village with it. If they're smart, that is," said Sai.

Shikamaru shook his head. "Based on this, it sounds more like someone is trying to build something in the village."

"Why and what?"

"I'm not sure yet. But it sounds to me that whoever they are want to accomplish something they don't have the means to do anyway. Building materials are expensive. They might have the skills but not the materials, so they've stolen enough to accomplish their goal."

"You think that's it?" Sai asked. "Someone wanted to build something like a porch or who knows what on their property and took what they needed from the warehouse to escape the charges?"

Shikamaru shrugged. "Either that or it's an elaborate dare in which someone bet someone else to raid the warehouse and are keeping the materials hidden somewhere to prove they did it but have no need for the stuff beyond that, which is why we haven't seen anything being constructed."

"Or they're waiting for us to drop our guard then start building," added Naruto.

"How much was stolen exactly?" Shikamaru asked.

"The man running the warehouse said anywhere between twenty to forty-eight planks and about a dozen steel rods."

"That's a pretty large gap with the lumber," pointed out Naruto.

"Yeah, and an exact number of steel rods," added Shikamaru. "I wonder why the owner specified one material over the other. Reimbursement comes to mind."

"But materials are missing."

"Yeah." Shikamaru pondered the possibility of this whole thing being a ruse. "Sai, could you check around the warehouse and see if you can pick up on any clues or if the stolen goods ever left the property?"

"Thinking the owner is hiding it so he'll get it replaced in some way? That crossed my mind, too. I'll go check it out." Sai promptly left the office.

Naruto looked at Shikamaru, unconvinced. "You really think the owner would lie to us just to get reimbursed?"

"It's possible. I know you still like believing in the best of people, but there are some who are never satisfied and want to take advantage of a kind heart."

"I know you're not just basing this off of me," said Naruto. "It's the method and the number of things taken, isn't it?"

"It's a small amount to be used for anything massive or dangerous but large enough to make a dent in the warehouse. Too small for people to notice being transported and no one reported seeing anything or anyone leave the village last night. Those things have to still be here. They could have been moved from one building to another or stashed away somewhere nearby where they would blend in easily."

"Like a construction site. Or a second warehouse."

"Exactly. Hiding in plain sight where only the culprit would know. And be able to retrieve it later."

Naruto leaned back in his chair. "Maybe whoever it is messing with the warehouse heard of the missing stuff and decided to cash in on it, too. Like you said, it has to be related." Naruto sighed. "But something tells me it's not deceit. I think someone is gathering this stuff for a reason."

"We'll see what Sai reports back. I'm hoping the inventory was just moved by mistake or just a prank," said Shikamaru. "Otherwise, I have little clue what this person or persons are planning."

* * *

And happy birthday, Shino!

Please review! ^-^


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5:**

Boruto and Denki searched all afternoon for Iwabe but came up with nothing. Denki was getting more and more concerned for his friend, fearing something had happened to him.

"Maybe he was working on a new move and it got away from him and he ended up crushed under his own Earth Style," Denki said with a shiver, images of his teammate half-buried under the rubble, calling for help.

"Denki, take it easy," assured Boruto. "Even if that did happen, Iwabe's crazy strong and can dig his way out. He could also use another jutsu to expel the other one. I doubt he's trapped."

"But it's not like him to disappear like this. He wants to prove himself so why would he avoid situations that allow him to do that? It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't make sense?"

Mitsuki had shown up without making a sound and startled the two boys.

Boruto and Denki quickly filled him in on what was happening and Mitsuki smiled.

"It's possible he thought the work was beneath his skill level and went off to do his own thing," he offered.

"And leave us wondering? He wouldn't do that."

Mitsuki glanced up. "Oh. Well, here's your chance to ask him yourself. He's right over there."

He pointed to the boy walking down the street, bobbing in and out of view with the passing villagers.

"Iwabe!" They hurried over to Iwabe who seemed surprised to see them. "Where have you been?"

"Here. Why?"

"You missed training. We were worried about you," said Denki.

"Huh? Oh, sorry. I was training on my own last night and overslept."

Boruto's brows knitted together. "You overslept? Until four in the afternoon?"

"Hey, I'm awake now. It's just that when I saw the time, I realized I had missed training. I rushed over but nobody was there, so now I'm wandering around, trying to decide what to do."

Iwabe's attitude was the same as ever, but it was strange for him to oversleep to such a degree and not be more flustered about it. Maybe he was before and had calmed down by now. Even so, Boruto thought Iwabe should be more apologetic than he was and not brush it off as some embarrassing error on his part.

Denki didn't seem bothered by Iwabe's response, just happy to see his friend was alright.

"I said I was sorry."

"It's fine. I was just worried something had happened to you."

"Well, I'm in one piece." Iwabe gestured to his body to show everyone that he was in perfect condition. "And sorry for the whole training thing. I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

"It's Sensei who you're gonna need to make it up to."

"Yeah, not looking forward to that lecture."

Everything seemed fine, so Boruto felt comfortable leaving the duo while he did something else.

"Did that seem odd to you?" Boruto asked Mitsuki as they walked away.

"Odd how?"

Maybe Mitsuki wasn't the best person to ask. He was a bit odd himself.

"I mean Iwabe playing it off as no big deal. I imagined he'd be sweating and running up to us and being real apologetic, you know? How he messed up and made everybody worry about him."

"He did apologize," pointed out Mitsuki. "Several times. Besides, I don't think the actions you described would be very befitting of Iwabe's character. Doesn't he usually try to play it cool?"

"Yeah, I guess you're right." Maybe he was just projecting what he felt his friend's behavior should be rather than what it was.

But Iwabe's excuse still had Boruto second guessing the situation. It seemed strange that Iwabe would oversleep for that length. Either he was really tired or his excuse was just an excuse to cover something up.

* * *

The next day, Sai came in to give his report.

"Well, nothing else was stolen, but the owner of the warehouse said he'd be shifting some things around for cleaning and making room for more stock."

"So he's expecting more stock, huh?" Shikamaru said suspiciously. It sounded to him that the man was planning on being reimbursed shortly. He hadn't even asked the shinobi or police force to catch the one responsible for taking the materials in the first place, which was also highly suspicious.

"We still haven't located the missing supplies but he told us not to worry about it and would just be moving his stuff to another building to keep it secure just in case it happened again."

"Sai, did you find anything suspicious while you were taking a look around? Any clues or even a motive? A suspect?" asked Naruto.

"Not really. Nobody broke in. The doors were locked and all employees have a key, including the owner." Sai looked at both Naruto and Shikamaru. "Based on what I've seen and heard, I'd say that those materials were simply misplaced."

"Misplaced?"

"If the warehouse is moving things around, it would be easy to do. If you like, I can keep an eye out just in case. Maybe stop by later tonight on my way home."

Naruto thought a moment then said, "No, it's fine. Thanks for investigating. You can go now."

Shikamaru waited until Sai left to address Naruto. "That's it?"

"The owner doesn't want to find a suspect and is moving things around. That tells me the owner really isn't all that concerned about his stock. He could be moving things around to cover something up or make it look like things were taken when they really weren't."

"Sai did say things were missing, but unless they keep track of everything coming in and out, the owner could just say that they're missing when in fact he sold them to someone."

"I'm sure Sai's smart enough to ask for that information."

Shikamaru looked at him. "You want to find out what happened, don't you?"

"Even if the owner isn't concerned, I am. If he's cheating us, I want to know. If someone really did take that stuff, I want to know. It seems like a minor problem now, but I want to make sure nothing's overlooked."

"Alright. Well, to start-"

The office door flew open and Moegi and Udon came inside with anxious looks on their faces.

"Seventh, it's Konohamaru. We can't find him anywhere. He's disappeared."

Naruto stood up. "What do you mean 'disappeared', exactly?"

"Yesterday, he never showed up for training with his students and I offered to check on him because we had been drinking the night before," said Moegi. "But when I got to his place, it was empty. I went inside but he wasn't there and his gear was still on the table so I know he hadn't gone on any missions."

"And I checked around the village, even the hospital, but no one's seen him. We looked again today and still can't find him."

"That's why we think something's happened to him. He's been missing for two days now."

"And we don't think he would have wandered somewhere drunk and gotten himself lost. Sobered up, he could easily find his way back."

"Is there anything we can do?"

Naruto wondered if the warehouse and Konohamaru were connected. Could he have taken those things in a drunken haze and after finding out Konohamaru wasn't fully aware of his actions, the owner decided to dismiss the whole thing? Was that why he didn't want to find a suspect?

That seemed unlikely. Konohamaru could have gone after the thieves himself, but if he had, why leave his gear behind? No, he would take his weapons with him and informed the other shinobi. Besides, evidence suggested the materials never left the village.

What did this leave?

It must have been unconnected.

"Alright," said Naruto, getting to business. "We'll get tracking ninja to help us search. A single party should be enough for now. We'll see what turns up and go from there. In the meantime, you two stay in the village and take another look around in case you missed something. Check his house again for clues and see if he came back."

"Right!" Moegi and Udon ran out of the office to do their job.

"Shikamaru, please bring in a team of tracking shinobi and have them do a search."

"I'm on it."

* * *

The search was unnecessary. As soon as a team was assembled, Konohamaru showed up outside the Hokage's building.

"Where the hell were you?" Moegi asked, half furious, half relieved.

"Sorry," Konohamaru said sheepishly. "I was kind of held up."

"For two days?"

"We checked your place and we…"

"Sorry, sorry." Konohamaru tried to calm his friends. "I was helping Shino with his love life. Man, when the guys gets bitten by the love bug… It was real ugly and I lost track of time and wanted to stay and help him out and, well, here we are. Sorry."

Moegi and Udon glared at their friend.

"Sorry," he said again in an attempt to drive the point home and fend off any further questions at the same time.

Moegi reached up and pinched Konohamaru's cheek, twisting it with her thumb and index finger.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow!"

She released him. "Hmph!"

"What?" he asked, holding his cheek. "I said I was sorry. I feel bad enough about it as it is."

The pinch was her way of telling whether or not it was the real Konohamaru. It wasn't a transformation and she could tell just by looking at his eyes that it was her friend from childhood.

"I didn't mean to worry you guys. It was my fault. I'm sorry."

She didn't think he'd be so reckless. He had really matured over the years but this…

This was something the old Konohamaru would do.

She sighed. "Ah, it's fine. I'll chew you out later… over drinks."

"Seriously?" Udon asked.

Moegi turned around with a smile. "Next week. Drinks. All three of us. And you're buying."

Konohamaru's shoulders slumped. "That's fair," he moaned.

Udon looked from a cheered-up Moegi to a defeated Konohamaru in silence.

Seeing his friends acting normal after all the concern helped him brush off the incident with a shake of his head. It also nicely summed up their relationship.

"At least she didn't punch him."

* * *

Please review! Thanks! ^-^


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6:**

"Heard that Konohamaru came back today," said Hinata as they sat down to dinner. "Said he was helping Shino and that's why he was missing for a while."

"At least he didn't use some lame excuse about oversleeping," said Boruto as he poked his food with his chopsticks.

"Did someone else shirk their responsibilities?" she asked.

"Yeah, Iwabe. He didn't show up to training with his team and we spent all afternoon looking for him. We saw him walking down the street and when we confronted him, he told us he had overslept because he trained late into the night yesterday."

"Well, that's understandable."

"It's a lame excuse. An hour or two I can believe but oversleeping that late when you don't have a fever."

Hinata gave him a look. "I seem to recall a certain someone staying up until sunrise playing a videogame and sleeping until two in the afternoon."

"That's totally different, Mom."

"How's that?"

"It just is, ok?"

Himawari giggle.

"Well, he was only missing for an afternoon. I heard Konohamaru was missing for two days. I'm glad he's alright."

Boruto smirked. "Next time he gives me attitude over responsibility or something like that, I can bring this up. He's one to lecture me, you know."

"Oh, now, Boruto, don't be like that," said Hinata. "Anyone can make mistakes but it's another thing to do something deliberately. Your sensei is just trying to help teach you things that might escape most people. If he's giving a lesson, you should really listen."

"But what if he's wrong?"

"How will you know if you don't listen in the first place?"

Boruto sat back in his seat. "But when he has us wait and stand around talking when we could be doing something… It's a waste of time, you know. Better to catch the bad guys while they're right there instead of waiting and giving them a chance to get away."

"Maybe he's trying to teach you strategy."

Boruto scoffed. "Strategy won't matter when power comes into play. The guy could have the greatest plan in the world but one hit from a powerful attack and he's down."

"But what if you face someone who's stronger than you? You'll need a plan to bring them down."

Boruto poked at his rice. "Unless he beats us first. That's why strength is more important. And that way you can have a good strategy and the power to back it up."

"There is such a thing as controlled strength, Boruto. Has Konohamaru told you that?"

He shrugged.

Boruto was focusing on a mission not too long ago where Konohamaru had cornered the target in a cave and instead of allowing the team to go in said they needed to wait for backup to arrive. It was everything he could do to keep Boruto from dashing in to the cave to face off against the villain.

He argued that the longer they waited for backup, the more likely it was for the enemy to get away and recover their strength. They needed to go in and take them down now while they were on their last legs.

Konohamaru warned Boruto of the dangers in doing that. A cornered enemy could be desperate. Trapped in a cave, what was stopping them from using exploding tags to collapse the cave with them inside? It could also be a trap and the enemy was trying to lure them into the cave under the suspicion that the enemy actually was weakened. It could have all been an act.

Boruto reluctantly did as he was told but afterward complained how he hadn't shown off what he could do. He also complained that it made them look weak because they had to call for help from another group rather than take care of it themselves.

He remembered telling his sensei, "You only have to call for help when you're too weak to do it yourself. Now we look weak and no one will take us seriously. It's the same as giving up."

Konohamaru tried to reason with him saying it wasn't weakness but sensibility to call for backup for the numbers and added strength just in case they misread the situation. He also reminded Boruto that he was responsible for their lives. If he made the wrong call…

"Don't you have any faith in us?" he had asked. "You assume we'll fail? That we can't handle ourselves? We're ninja, aren't we? This is what we do."

Both Sarada and Konohamaru lectured him after that remark and he tried to tune out most of it.

After that, they started getting lower ranked missions, leading Boruto to think that they had done something wrong. Either because of what he said or the fact that they had to call for backup.

Sarada said he needed to learn to keep his mouth shut, suggesting that they were being punished for his statement.

However, Boruto suspected that the lower ranked missions were a result of having to call for backup. The more experienced shinobi must have thought the missions were too advanced for them and they couldn't handle it because a strong shinobi wouldn't need to call for help. Now they were back to rescuing cats and mending fences.

No matter what anyone said, he was convinced this was the reason.

* * *

"Is it true what I heard?" asked Inojin. "The rumors about someone stealing inventory from the warehouse?"

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Metal told me. He was jogging by when he saw stuff being taken from the warehouse and a person told him that after a recent theft the owners were moving things around to make it harder for thieves."

Sai sat down at the dinner table across from his son. "Word travels fast."

"So is it true?"

"I doubt it, actually. The owner doesn't want to find the person who did it which tells us that there was no actual theft."

"You think it was an inside job?"

Sai chuckled. "More like they misplaced it and don't want to own up to their mistake."

"The owner isn't trying to pull a reimbursement thing, are they?" asked Ino. "As if the village owes them for the things taken."

"We were worried about that, too, but the owner hasn't brought it up. Not yet, anyway."

Ino scoffed. "I bet it was the owner's son or something like that and when he found out, didn't want to press charges for a childish prank."

"Funny, Shikamaru said the same thing when I talked to him."

"Oh, he would."

"He said with the amount of stuff taken, it sounds more like a dare than anything bad. He also said the items probably haven't even left the village. From my investigation, I'd say that's a pretty safe bet. There's no real evidence for it."

"Wouldn't the guards at the gate notice people trying to carry big boards of wood and heavy sacks?" asked Inojin. "I heard they took lumber but I don't know what else they took."

"What did they take?" asked Ino.

"Nothing important," said Sai. "The number is laughable which might be why the owner wants to complain but not do anything about it."

"I'll keep an eye out in case I see anyone with a large number of wood for no reason," said Inojin.

Sai smiled. "That's pretty much what we're doing at this point."

The family began dinner as usual, with light conversation spread throughout.

Sai finished his miso soup first before moving on to the rice and fish Ino prepared lovingly. Sometimes she would even form a heart out of the piping hot rice for Sai to find. He found it again tonight and smiled at her affectionately.

As he reached for the oiled string beans, his chopsticks froze in the air.

"Dad?"

"Darling, is everything alright?"

Sai lowered his chopsticks to the table. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry, I just remembered something important I really have to do. I'll be back soon."

He got up from the table and left the house.

Inojin exchanged looks with his mother. "What was that about?"

"Maybe he just realized something about the warehouse and has gone to resolve it."

* * *

Please review! Thanks! ^-^


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7:**

Boruto was quick to give his sensei and earful when he saw him the following day. Criticism with a smile. Konohamaru took the verbal onslaught with good humor, knowing he messed up.

"Knock it off, Boruto," Sarada finally butted in. It would have been sooner but she was upset at him, too, and this was her way of getting a few licks in without actually saying anything. "Can we start training now?"

"She's right, Boruto. You got a couple days off but now we have to get to business."

"Fine." Boruto stopped and prepared for the day's lesson.

* * *

Boruto and his team took a break for lunch. Naturally, Boruto picked his favorite fast food chain. There, they ran into Chocho and her teammates. Sarada sat with her friend while the boys sat in a different booth with each other.

Inojin seemed distracted so Boruto asked what was wrong.

"My dad didn't come home last night."

Boruto grew alarmed, knowing something similar had happened twice before.

"He said there was something important he needed to take care of and left."

Boruto calmed down. "At least he told you he was heading out to handle something."

"Did he say what it was?" asked Mitsuki.

Inojin shook his head. "No, just that it was important and said he'd be back toon. But when I got up this morning, Mom said he still hadn't come back."

"Maybe he had a mission."

"Maybe…"

Shikadai slurped his drink loudly. He then set it on the table and said, "Didn't you say your dad was overseeing the warehouse situation?"

"What warehouse situation?" asked Boruto.

"The warehouse had been robbed the other night. Sai and some other shinobi were assigned to investigate."

"I'm surprised you didn't know about that," came Mitsuki's gentle voice and Boruto could see him smile from the corner of his eye.

"No one had been caught, so it makes sense for your dad to up and leave quick like that," assured Shikadai. "He might have found a crack in the case or remembered he had guard duty or something."

"Yeah, but I would have liked details or something."

"He told you he was heading out. It's troublesome but maybe he couldn't say more if he was in a hurry or if he was told not to."

Inojin seemed to cheer up a little bit.

"For all you know, your old man's back at your place right now."

"Maybe. Mom will let me know the second I step inside." Inojin gave a nervous grin.

Boruto asked Shikadai to back up a bit. "You're telling me the warehouse was robbed? What did they steal?"

"Just some material," said Shikadai, viewing the robbery as no big deal. "Lumber and pipes and stuff."

"No money was taken?"

"No. The warehouse wouldn't have any cash anyway. It's just a building that stores things."

Boruto frowned. "Then why would anybody rob the place? That's stupid. Who'd want a bunch of useless junk like that anyway?"

"Probably someone wanting to build an addition to their house but doesn't want the cost to go along with it," Shikadai said, leaning back lazily.

"Dad said not much was taken which was probably why the owner didn't care too much about finding the person," said Inojin. "I bet it was some kids needing stuff to build a fort or lemonade stand or something."

"No wonder no one's taking it seriously."

"My dad is, if he took off like that."

"Point taken." Shikadai reached for his drink. "It's not like the place was emptied. If it was, it'd be all over the news. I think it's pretty trivial to even pay attention to it. Little was taken and it didn't hurt anybody. No money was involved. And if the owner doesn't care enough to…"

"I bet they just lost track of it."

"That's what I'm thinking."

Mitsuki listened to the entire conversation without contributing anything, absorbing information.

His yellow eyes focused on the table as he made plans for later that evening.

* * *

Shikamaru sat in his seat going over some documents in his lap. It was still light outside but the sky had turned a deep orange color, signaling the coming sunset. He saw many sunsets from the office window, though he preferred to see them from his front door. It was common for him to stay late to help Naruto finish his work. In fact, coming home at sunset was considered an early night for him.

He glanced over at Naruto hunched over his desk, once again attempting to finish so he could get home and have dinner with his family. Between the two of them, Naruto saw far more sunrises than he did. There were times Naruto didn't go home at all just to finish his work, the weight of the village and its people on his shoulders.

Shikamaru hoped it wouldn't be one of those nights.

"Hey."

"Yeah?" Naruto responded.

"Let me take some of that stuff off your desk," he offered. "With so much blocking your view, you can't see the finish line."

Naruto chuckled.

"I'm serious." Shikamaru started taking completed files off the Hokage's desk. "I'll deliver these for you while you handle those."

"You sure?"

"Don't take everything on yourself. I got this."

"Thanks, Shikamaru."

Shikamaru carried the pile into the hall, stopping only to address Konohamaru who was passing by. Konohamaru avoided Shikamaru's eyes.

"You've been hearing about it all day, haven't you?"

Konohamaru sighed. "From my friends, my students… I'm buying drinks for everyone on the weekend. Please tell me you're busy."

Shikamaru smirked. "Don't worry. I'll take it easy on your wallet by staying behind, how about that? Just don't pull a crazy stunt like that again. We were seriously worried about you. Especially Naruto."

"Sorry."

"Hey, can you help me out a bit and take the top file?" Shikamaru asked. "That goes to the room down the hall. They should still be there. Just leave it on the desk."

"Sure."

Konohamaru reached for the file then stopped. He slowly pulled his hands away.

"I'm sorry, I just remembered something important I really have to do. I'll be back soon."

"Huh?" Shikamaru peered over the pile in his arms but Konohamaru was already at the other end of the hall. "What the hell was that about?"

* * *

Inojin was pleased to see that his father had returned home during the afternoon. He apologized for making them worry but Ino was quick to forgive, knowing how sudden missions could come up.

"What were you doing?" Inojin asked his father.

Sai gave him a gentle smile. "Oh, that's not important."

"Was it a top-secret mission and that's why you can't say?"

"Inojin, stop pestering your father and eat your dinner."

"Sorry, Mom."

Dinner was completely normal, though Sai seemed hungrier than usual, leaving no leftovers.

However, as Inojin was getting ready for bed, he noticed his father walking down the hall towards the front door.

"Everything ok, Dad?" Inojin asked, sticking his head into the hall.

"I'm sorry, I just remembered something important I really have to do. I'll be back soon," Sai told him and continued down the hall.

Inojin stared, a slight shiver going up his spine. It was almost exactly what Sai had said last night when he excused himself from the table. It was a bit eerie.

* * *

That evening, Mitsuki took it upon himself to do a little investigative work. After a modest meal and turning out his lights so it looked like he had gone to bed, Mitsuki gathered his ninja tools and left his dwelling through the window.

There were few people on the street and lights were beginning to go out in different directions as people got into bed for the night. He avoided the buildings with the most lights, traveling in the shadows toward the warehouse.

He perched in a tree, watching in absolute silence as the warehouse came to life.

The owner stepped out of the building and motioned to a vehicle which was already prepared with a load of heavy materials.

There were piles of lumber and metals neatly lined up outside the warehouse from earlier that day. Only now were they actually being addressed.

Mitsuki made note of everything he saw and started to put the pieces together.

The owner had said that they were going to be moving the inventory to another building, which the villagers could see taking place during the day. However, many of the items in questions were merely being stacked outside the building for transport. Some had been loaded into vehicles and parked facing the street, ready to move but not during the day.

Loaded in plain sight during the day but not moved.

A lot of inventory was missing, possibly moved during the day. Was it accounted for?

Mitsuki counted the trucks and materials and realized it didn't add up.

Then something else caught his attention. It was who the owner was talking to.

The owner tried to lift a few planks by himself but couldn't manage. Then someone picked up the other end to help carry it over to a separate pile. It was Sai.

Someone else came out of the warehouse with steel rods tucked under each arm. They stacked them against the warehouse as did another man. The third coming out of the building was Konohamaru who, too, placed a large number of rods against the side of the warehouse.

More people came after that and there was little conversation. Everyone knew their jobs and carried them out flawlessly.

Mitsuki stayed until he felt it would be too dangerous to monitor them anymore and left.

As he returned home, he mulled over what he had seen and couldn't make complete sense of it. He knew what it looked like, but there were too many holes, making room for other theories.

The one thing he couldn't doubt was the desire to inform Boruto about what he had seen.

* * *

Please review! Thanks ^-^


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8:**

The next day, Boruto and his team had the day off, as did a few others. Denki's team had to run drills that day to make up for Iwabe's absence. The boys spent the day window shopping and playing card games in the park. Mitsuki participated, but was just passing time.

He waited for a respite between games and tried to speak to Boruto in secret.

He ambushed him on his way out of the bathroom, resulting in a flinch and a sour look from the blond ninja. Startled or not, Boruto agreed to hear what he had to say.

As soon as he brought up the warehouse, Boruto got ready to dismiss everything, and not just because of the way Mitsuki got him off guard.

"I went there last night and I'm a bit confused about the situation and would like your input."

"What's there to be confused about?" Boruto asked him. "They're moving things to the other building. Of course there will be stuff laying around outside."

"I understand that but the amount outside doesn't account for what used to be in the warehouse. It's too small."

"Maybe because they already moved the stuff to the new building." Boruto thought the answer was obvious.

"But there were shinobi helping them. Sai was there and Konohamaru-sensei."

"It's a big job. They must need strong ninja to help them out, you know."

"Yes. But what of the vehicles I saw loaded up and sitting there? Why weren't they moved?"

"Maybe they loaded them up to get a head start the next day. They ran out of time and got it ready for later."

"But I don't recall seeing any vehicles moving around during the day."

"Maybe because they took the road away from where people walk. There's a ton of streets in the village, Mitsuki."

"I suppose." Mitsuki looked to the side. "I just found it odd. And when I checked the other warehouse, I didn't see any overflow. Which tells me that the supplies are missing."

"Maybe you went to the wrong warehouse. Or maybe it was already empty and they're just now filling it up."

"That's true," said Mitsuki. "I have no idea what it looked like before."

"There you go."

"Still, Boruto. Don't you find it odd that they were doing a lot of transport during the night? We see them moving things during the day but don't actually see it going anywhere."

"It's a big job and they probably don't have a lot of people helping them out. Maybe they need to do some of it at night."

Mitsuki still wasn't convinced but didn't pester Boruto anymore. He did bring up a lot of good points. It also seemed odd for so many well-respected shinobi to do anything deceitful. Maybe Mitsuki was suspicious for nothing, but he remained vigilant just in case.

* * *

They had a late lunch with Denki's team at Boruto's favorite burger chain once again. The group took up two booths and had several conversations going from time to time. Then one would filter out as they became interested in what the other booth was doing.

Everyone listened and teased Iwabe when he talked about the lecture and difficult training they had to do because of him.

"Next time don't stay up training so late," said Shikadai.

"It's cool, guys," Denki vouched for his friend. "He had enough already. Don't keep bringing it up."

"Hey," Inojin said, leaning over the back of the booth to get closer to Iwabe's ear. "If you're done for the day, how about we do something after lunch? We got cards if you wanna do that, or I can show you this new game I got the other day."

"It's not like that old board game Shikadai was doing, is it?"

"My old man said it would be good for strategy and I knew I'd never hear the end of it from my friends. Even I thought it was lame."

"No, this game's different."

Iwabe seemed interested. "Is it a videogame?"

"No. It's sort of like cards, but there are these other pieces and what you gotta do is…"

Iwabe suddenly stood up and maneuvered his way out of the booth. "I'm sorry, I just remembered something important I really have to do. I'll be back soon."

"Uh…"

"Hey, where you going?" Boruto asked but Iwabe refused to turn around.

Denki pouted in his seat. "At least he waited until we were done training to run off on his own. I wonder what's so important."

Shikadai waved a hand in Inojin's face. "Hey, you ok?"

Inojin looked at him then looked back at the ground. "Yeah. It's just kind of freaky, that's all."

"What is?" asked Boruto.

"My dad said the same thing last night before he took off like he did the night before. Iwabe said it word for word."

"You think something's going on?"

Boruto glanced over at Mitsuki who hadn't taken his eyes off Boruto during the exchange.

Something was up. Boruto realized it, too.

* * *

"What the hell?"

"Something wrong, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru stood up from his seat, paper in hand. "I've got to find Sai and talk to him about this."

"What is it?" Naruto pressed.

"Oh, it's just about the warehouse thing. I'll take care of it."

Shikamaru went to find Sai but didn't have to search very far as he came walking down the hall toward the main entrance. Shikamaru easily caught up to him and casually asked about the warehouse situation.

"Oh, that. Everything's running smoothly," Sai told him. "I was actually on my way to check on things right now, as a matter of fact."

"Smoothly, huh?" Shikamaru asked. "So the warehouse's inventory has been moved to its new location?"

"Well, not all of it. It's a big job. I'm sure we'll finish soon."

"You're handling it well? You need anything? We said you didn't have to do anything further with it."

"I'm sure I got it. It's all going well. The owner seems pleased."

"He still doesn't want to find the one responsible?"

"No. Why?"

"Don't know," said Shikamaru. "Seems like a lot of work to do for some missing lumber and steel. Sort of an extreme reaction to move everything to a new place and weird that he doesn't want to find the person who did it."

Sai shrugged. "I'll admit it's odd but it's his choice and nothing else has gone missing."

"It's all accounted for?"

"So far, yes. I'll double check to make sure."

"You want me to come along as an extra hand?"

Sai chuckled. "Oh, no, no. Your strength isn't exactly physical, if you know what I'm saying. Besides, Naruto needs you here. You lack stamina, too. You'll probably get winded before we even make a dent in the stock. All your time behind a desk probably hasn't help much, either."

Shikamaru's eye twitched but he couldn't deny it.

Then Sai turned and said, "I'm sorry, I just remembered something important I really have to do. I'll be back soon," and left through the main doors.

Shikamaru's eyes narrowed.

As soon as he returned to the office, Naruto asked him if everything was alright.

"No, something's up."

"What's wrong?" Naruto gave him his undivided attention, deeply concerned.

"Sai… He said the same exact thing Konohamaru said yesterday. Word for word. It sounded rehearsed, if you know what I'm saying. Not only that, but what Sai just told me about the warehouse doesn't make sense."

"Why not?"

"Because the new building is already full. I just got the paperwork on it so we could have a copy of the inventory. There's no place to put the stuff from the fist warehouse, yet Sai says everything's fine. Considering the work they're doing and all the supplies…"

"It's disappearing," Naruto finished. "It's going somewhere but not where it's supposed to."

"Yeah. And Sai should be aware of that if he's actually doing his job."

"I don't think he's gotten lazy," said Naruto. "If Sai says he'll do something then we can trust him to do it. Which means something else is going on."

Naruto started to stand up.

"Where are you going?"

"To figure out what's going on."

Shikamaru held up his hand to stop him. "No, I'll do it."

"But, Shikamaru…"

"I'll investigate and get back to you. You stay here and deal with your desk. Besides, if something is going on, they'll get alarmed if they see you. I'll handle it."

Naruto was about to protest and insist on sending a clone with him, but realized that Shikamaru had a valid point. The unannounced arrival of the Hokage would surely put a few people on edge. Shikamaru had more business leaving the office than he did and often saw to issues throughout the village. Seeing him show up would be no call for concern.

Naruto started to sit back down. "Alright," he said quietly, not liking the idea but knowing it was the right choice to make. Undoubtedly, Shikamaru had some sort of strategy.

* * *

"Tell me again," Boruto asked Mitsuki as they hurried to the warehouse instead of going home for dinner.

"The number of inventories seem low. The vehicles were loaded and parked facing the street. Sai and Konohamaru-sensei were working with the owner along with several other shinobi. I don't think they're bringing anything to the new location they talked about but a different one."

Boruto knew there were a number of warehouses, each one housing different materials. Thanks to fieldtrips and having the Hokage as a father, Boruto knew where most of them were located and the corresponding inventory.

It sounded like building material was the only thing being taken and moved around. That meant the warehouses containing food supplies and weaponry weren't plausible locations to have them moved to. It would have to be another warehouse housing similar supplies. One was near the first but the other was a distance away.

"If they were worried about theft, they would move them further away, right?"

"It would stand to reason."

"Then we should check out the one on the other side of the village and not the one nearby."

Mitsuki tried to read Boruto's face from the side as they ran. "You think we'll find clues at a different warehouse?"

"I'm not sure what we'll find, but something weird's going on with these warehouses."

Away from the homes and shopping area of the village, nestled far away were the other warehouses. He remembered asking why they needed another set so far from the others and it was Iruka who explained to him that it made more sense to have separate locations for two main reasons: convenience and emergency situations. After the Leaf's growth, it made more sense to have warehouses in different places so what was needed didn't have to be lugged from one end of the village to another. If something was being built near the west side of the village, it made sense to get the supplies from the warehouse closest to the west. And in case something were to happen, like a flood, they would have a backup just in case one was washed away or if the contents were ruined.

After it was explained, Boruto saw how it made sense. However, in situations like this, he wished it wasn't so far away.

Boruto and Mitsuki hid in the trees, spying on the warehouses from a distance. After a few minutes, Mitsuki jumped down to study the ground.

"It doesn't look like anyone has been here for a while. If people were relocating the supplies here, there would be a lot more foot traffic than this."

"With means nothing's being brought here," Boruto concluded. "Let's head back to the other one. Everything must be happening there."

They went back to the warehouse where the majority of activity was occurring. However, when they arrived, the place was practically a ghost town. The warehouse door was open but no lights were on and no one was moving about.

"The vehicles are missing," Mitsuki commented, gesturing to the area he had seen them last.

"Where could they have taken them? The other warehouse was deserted. It was locked up tight and it showed no signs of activity."

"Out of the village?"

Boruto scoffed. "How? Someone would see."

"We didn't. We were on our way elsewhere."

Boruto knew he was right. "We just missed them," he muttered.

Mitsuki turned to leave. "If we act now, we may be able to catch up and see where they are really taking the supplies."

In agreement, Boruto and Mitsuki went back into the main area of the village but other than a few late shoppers, there weren't many people around. Less people meant fewer witnesses and a clear street to drive down. They couldn't find any tracks in the soil, but it was unlikely for a truck, even a small one, to pass through the shopping area.

There were a few back roads leading out of the village and away from the people. In all likelihood, those were the ones used to transport everything.

"What are you guys doing?"

Boruto yelped and spun around. "Sarada, don't do that!"

"Do what?" she asked, adjusting her glasses. "It's a public street and I happen to be doing some last-minute shopping. We're out of leeks and Mom's working late."

"Has she been acting normal?" Mitsuki asked, grinning. "Used any excuses to leave like Iwabe did?"

She raised her brow. "What are you talking about?"

"We're on a stakeout, gathering clues," said Boruto, looking around for suspicious activity.

"Clues for what?"

"Where all the materials from the warehouse are going," said Mitsuki.

"And why the people involved are acting strange," added Boruto.

Sarada put a hand to her forehead. "How many horror movies have you been watching recently? Nothing weird's going on in the village."

"Then how do you explain the supplies from the warehouse going missing?"

"What makes you think they're missing?"

"Mitsuki said he was watching them the other night and noticed that they weren't being moved to a different warehouse and that the trucks were loaded and not going anywhere."

Sarada sighed. "Did it occur to you that they might have been doing all that during the day when you were busy and unable to see it? And do you even know how much was being moved? How do you know anything's missing?"

Boruto looked at Mitsuki then at the ground. "Actually, I did think about that." Then he remarked, "But it doesn't explain the people acting weird around here."

"Weird in what way?"

"According to Inojin, Iwabe said the same exact thing his old man said right before disappearing for a day."

"Did he come back?"

Boruto hesitated. "Well, yeah. But then he went out again saying the same thing later that night."

She sighed again, putting her hand to her forehead for a second time, exasperated. "Obviously he had work to do and needed to leave, informing his family that he'd be out late so they wouldn't worry. You know Chunin and Jonin can get called out at any time for an assignment, right?"

"… Yeah."

"Sai was not on a secret mission, however," said Mitsuki. "He was at the warehouse along with Konohamaru-sensei."

"See!" Boruto declared, pointing his finger in Sarada's face.

"Overseeing the transport of the warehouse is still an assignment. Sai could have been checking it out to see what really happened. He investigates things in the village. And as far as Konohamaru-sensei is concerned, he could have been assigned to assist them as punishment for having us worry the other day when he didn't show up. For all we know, it could have been why he was late in the first place, though I highly doubt it."

Boruto and Mitsuki exchanged looks. Those were all reasonable explanations.

Maybe they did jump to conclusions.

"Even so, Iwabe and Sai both said the same exact thing. It made Inojin very uncomfortable."

"Coincidence," said Sarada.

Boruto sighed. "Yeah, ok, I get it, you know." He rubbed the back of his neck. "But it's still really weird. Can you blame us?"

"It's not our assignment. We know little about it, so of course certain things are going to seem weird to us. But the adults are handling it. Stop butting in and making trouble out of nothing."

"I'm not…"

Boruto trailed off, seeing something over Sarada's shoulder.

A moment later, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the narrow alley between two large buildings. She started to protest but quieted when he put a finger to his lips, staring at something.

The serious expression on his face caused her body to tense up, the possibility of a threat very near, and she slowly turned her head to look.

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9:**

Sarada slowly turned her head to face the large street behind her.

People. People marching calmly down the street without a word, eyes fixed straight ahead. They were all male and nearly all of them were shinobi. Some were still wearing the Leaf headbands as proof. Every one of them was able-bodied and eerily focused.

There were a few familiar faces they couldn't place a name to and others who were pretty generic. Among the throng were Iruka, Konohamaru, Sai, Kakashi and Yamato. Walking unsteadily behind the majority was Iwabe.

Boruto instinctively called out to him only to be pulled into the shadows by his friends.

When Iwabe turned towards the noise, several others did the same, a chilling calm, vacant expression on their faces.

Iwabe approached the narrow alley and, finding nothing, returned to the crowd.

Boruto and his team peered down at the procession from the rooftops, barely able to breathe a sigh of relief when they weren't caught.

The crowd seemed to come out of nowhere and were very organized. None of them said a word, yet were able to carry out different tasks as if they already knew what they were doing and what the others were doing as well.

They moved to a construction site and removed the various supplies stashed under tarps and behind fences.

More than once, Boruto and the others had to relocate to keep up with them and stay out of sight at the same time. From their new spot crouched behind shrubbery and buildings, they looked on as the crowd marched through the main gate and over to a waiting truck.

They loaded the items into the bed and several climbed inside while others remained behind. During all of this, there was no communication whatsoever. Not even a single step forward then back as someone else moved before them. No hesitation, no mistakes. They were too organized. They knew where everyone was and where they should be.

The guards at the gate did nothing to stop them. They hardly glanced up, which told the group that they knew exactly what was going on.

The truck drove off with its load and several people sitting inside and riding on the roof and clinging to the back. The ones remaining behind started to jog into the shadow-cloaked path ahead.

Four stayed behind.

They started to walk back into the village and each went a different way. One stopped near the Genin's hiding spot and another stopped further away.

A couple shinobi had arrived, acting normally.

"Hey, did I just see a bunch of you guys pass by?" asked one of the men. "By the time I turned around, I didn't see anybody. Is it just you?"

The other shinobi had stopped the other further away and, possibly the creepiest thing of all was what happened next.

"Oh, just checked up on the main gate," the two men said in perfect unison from their separate locations. "The warehouse situation has been settled and nothing has left the village, as we assumed."

"Uh, great," said the shinobi. "Seemed like a lot of work. Glad it's settled."

They couldn't hear what the other shinobi was saying further away but he seemed to be saying something else entirely, waved and went a different way.

"Well, have a good night," said the shinobi near them and he left the man alone.

Boruto turned his head to whisper, "Tell me that isn't creepy. Or a coincidence."

Sarada put a finger to her lips. "Shh! They'll hear you."

It was wise to be cautious though the man nearest them had already started moving away from their hiding spot.

"Should we follow them?" Mitsuki asked quietly.

"Of course," Boruto answered immediately. "Something really creepy's going on here and we've got to see what."

"Hold it," Sarada said, still crouched down in case they were spotted. "I'll admit it's creepy and suspicious but we haven't conclusively witnessed anything wrong."

"Did you not see what I just saw?" Boruto asked, gesturing to the street. "They were like zombies walking the streets and spoke at the same time from two different areas."

"Boruto, it could be anything."

Though she didn't want to admit it, even she had her doubts. Something just wasn't right.

The people leaving the village weren't doing anything wrong and even the guards didn't stop them. Though it didn't make sense for the materials to leave the village, they were just Genin and didn't know the whole story. It could have been a special order. There was nothing criminal about the crowd they saw either. They weren't rioting and no one was injured. They just so happened to be going to the same place at the same time. Even the shop owners only glanced up for a second before going back to their work, finding nothing unusual about it.

Even so, it was a very strange thing to witness. Something was off about all those people.

Their eyes were normal as were their bodies. They carried nothing on their person to indicate otherwise. Then again, genjutsu didn't necessarily cause a person's eyes to change color. But what kind of genjutsu could be cast at a distance? Unless the caster was among them. No, everyone in that crowd looked and acted exactly the same. The caster would have stood out.

"You're thinking about it, aren't you?" asked Mitsuki. "Even you can tell something is wrong."

She refused to answer.

"Well, I'm following them," announced Boruto. "The four who stayed behind. I'm going to tail them to see what they're doing."

"Not by yourself," Sarada told him.

The trio followed the four men to different locations. Sarada followed one to a pharmacy and watched him pick up a bottle of antibiotics and fever-reducer. Mitsuki followed a different man to a supply store where he purchased six pairs of heavy-duty gloves. The other one he saw head to a store further up the street and exit with a parcel under his arm. Unable to see what was obtained while spying on the other man, Mitsuki summoned the snake he left slithering outside the shop and had it crawl up his sleeve. It hissed in his ear and Mitsuki's expression did not change.

The fourth man Boruto followed to a convenient store where he purchased a package of instant noodles and some bananas. Boruto pretended to look at magazines as the man passed him by on his way out. Boruto waiting two seconds before following him to make sure he didn't miss anything the man did next.

The man was heading toward the main gate. The streets were getting wider, making it difficult for Boruto to remain hidden. He elected to stay in the man's shadow rather than near the walls, thinking the man would not notice him if he remained in a blind spot.

It was a foolish mistake and one he wouldn't have made if he hadn't felt so frazzled.

Without turning around, the man asked, "How long do you intend to follow me?"

"Me?" Boruto played innocent. "I'm not following you. I'm just on my way home."

"Really?" The man turned to face him. "Considering how much backtracking you've done from the shrubs to the shops and back here, I should think you'd have been home by now. Detours?"

Boruto swallowed. The man knew he had been hiding in the shrubs earlier. Did that also mean he knew about Sarada and Mitsuki?

"Well, it was still early but now I've got nothing to do, so I may as well go home, you know?"

"Dear boy," came several voices at once. "You are more perceptive than you let on."

Silvering, Boruto took a step back to see the three other men standing in a row on his left near the buildings, each carrying something in their hands.

Seeing their position, Boruto was glad he opted to stay in the middle of the street rather than hug the walls. They must have been lurking there and it would have been easy for them to grab him and drag him into an alley without anyone noticing. What he thought had been a mistake might have actually saved his skin.

"Boruto!" Sarada jumped down to stand at his side. Mitsuki did the same and took a fighting stance, ready in case anything happened.

However, the four men were not hostile. They merely stood there, watching them as if they were a flock of birds feeding on some seeds near their feet. Mitsuki's stance didn't alarm them at all.

"What's going on? Who are you guys? Imposters? Or are you real and just being tricked in some way?" Boruto barely paused between questions and the men smiled through them all.

"Just tell us what's happening," Sarada told them firmly, eyes glaring. "If you're not preparing for an assault, then what?"

Boruto tore his eyes away from them to look at her, shocked that she didn't seem to consider what they were doing to be an assault. It certainly looked that way to him.

The four men answered in perfect harmony.

"It appears as though no crimes were committed and no one in this village was hurt. Why are you so interested? Do we look dangerous to you? Why do you feel the need to spy?"

Their words and movements were flawlessly synchronized, making the calm conversation extremely creepy. This couldn't have been a rehearsed response, meaning that this synergy was all off the cuff.

It was disturbing for Boruto but it had Sarada suspecting that someone else was controlling these people like puppets.

Everything they had witnessed confirmed that this was not natural.

"What have you been doing with the warehouse?" Boruto demanded loudly. "And what are those things you have there? What are you planning to do with them?"

"That is none of your concern," they said at once.

"Stop doing that and answer me!"

The men looked at him for a moment. Then they responded, separately, one after another.

"No harm is being done…"

"… and your people are not hurt…"

"… so why does it matter…"

"… what we do?"

"And…"

"… is it safe to assume…"

"… that speaking in unison…"

"… bothers you?"

Boruto grit his teeth. "That does it. I'm stopping you here and now."

They saw Boruto make a hand sign and, before his clones could appear, the men acted. Three gathered behind the fourth and he threw something from his hand onto the ground.

Mitsuki grabbed Boruto to pull him away from the blast of smoke, unsure of what it contained. It appeared to just be an ordinary smoke bomb. Through the haze, they could see the outlines of the four men escaping through the main gate of the village.

"Come on," Boruto urged. "After them."

"No," Sarada said, grabbing his arm.

"We can't let them get away," Boruto protested.

"Boruto, be reasonable!" She yanked on his arm hard enough to knock him off balance. "This situation is more complicated than it looks. I'm not sure what they're doing, but what I do know is that those people are real. It must be a kind of genjutsu."

"So what?"

"So, considering their numbers and those in their ranks, we can't take them on by ourselves. There are Jonin and Chunin among them including ordinary villagers."

"They rank from weak to strong," Mitsuki added. "We probably shouldn't harm innocent villagers and the high-ranking shinobi surpass our strength, even combined. And there are a lot of them."

He didn't seem to be trying to talk Boruto out of it; just stating the facts.

Sarada, however, was trying to have Boruto reconsider.

"We don't stand a chance against all those people. Three Genin against at least twenty Jonin and Chunin. And those are just the ones we saw. There could be more."

"And if they are under genjutsu, it probably wouldn't alter their strength, meaning that it will be the same as taking them on normally, more or less. The sheer numbers alone are worrisome."

"He's right. Boruto, there's no way we can take them all on and win."

Boruto was ready to argue with what he thought made even more sense. "Wherever they're going, the caster must be there as well. And if we find them, we can stop them and get everyone back to normal. We take out the caster, we break the jutsu."

Mitsuki nodded. "A fine idea. And taking on the caster, a single person, would be much easier to accomplish than a whole army."

Sarada shook her head. "No way. We don't know who the caster is or how powerful they are."

"Three against one evens the odds," Boruto insisted. "Now let's go before the trail goes cold. We need to hurry."

"We need backup," Sarada told him. "We have to tell the Hokage what's going on. At the very least, we need to tell a Jonin what's going on so they can help. Get tracking ninja or something."

Immediately Boruto recalled the past mission where they had to sit and wait for the backup shinobi to assemble and take care of the enemy for them while they watched. The very thought of doing that again made his blood boil.

"No way," he growled. "Absolutely not. I am not going to called for some Jonin to help us. They'll just do it all for us. Tell us to sit it out because we're kids and too weak on our own. We're ninja, you know! This is what we do and they won't let us because they think we're helpless!"

"Boruto…"

He pulled away from her.

This was their mission. Their sensei, their friends. They did all the work. They tailed them, they gathered information, they knew what was going on. Even the adults didn't seem to notice anything was wrong. They probably wouldn't believe them and write it off as a child's imagination. If they did believe them, they would take over and get all the credit.

Besides, Boruto couldn't trust that the shinobi they told would be in their right mind. They could be under the same jutsu.

"Going to find someone now would just waste time," he explained. "We have to go now so we can follow them and find their boss. We also don't know who else has been hit by that genjutsu. What if we tell the wrong person?"

"But us going by ourselves with no one knowing where we are or what we're doing… That's crazy and idiotic. If we run into trouble, who will help us?" asked Sarada. "We've got to inform somebody. This is a serious situation. We need strong ninja to help us."

Boruto turned to leave. "If you want to so bad, then you do it. But I'm going on ahead."

Boruto ran as fast as he could, hoping he could still follow the men who left on foot and not lose their trail. He could hear Sarada calling his name and ignored her.

He was not going to sit this out. He was not going to be seen as weak by having someone bail him out. He was going to show what he was made of so everyone would start taking him seriously and recognize him as his own shinobi.

He didn't need to be rescued. He was going to rescue them.

"That idiot," Sarada said angrily. "He's going to get himself killed. He can't go alone."

"Then I suppose we should join him," offered Mitsuki and was already running.

Sarada knew the sensible thing to do would be to notify other people, but they left her no time to do it if she wanted to make sure they didn't get themselves into trouble. If she turned around now, she would lose their trail and would be unable to help them. She knew they needed her.

Against her better judgment, she raced after them.

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10:**

They followed the four men on foot through the night. It was tiring work but they managed to keep up with them unnoticed. The men stopped twice to rest before going on and when they stopped, Boruto's group stopped.

This wasn't about stopping them as much as it was finding out where they were going.

They couldn't be certain the guards at the gate were unaffected, so they had to scale the wall. Even if they weren't being manipulated, it was doubtful they would let a group of Genin out after curfew. The group before them probably fashioned some kind of excuse or a high-ranked shinobi under someone else's control offered them passage which was why the guards didn't put up a fuss.

Finally, they reached the edge of the forest and hid, watching as the men entered a simple village.

"Seems like an odd place to go, doesn't it?" Mitsuki whispered.

The men had been traveling by road while the young ninja followed them from the trees at a distance. From the cover of the trees and shrubs, they couldn't see much of the village but it seemed pretty generic. The modest homes and quiet atmosphere weren't what they were expecting.

"I was prepared to enter some sort of fortress or compound, even an underground hideout, but this…"

"They could just be passing through," whispered Boruto. "We have to get a closer look."

They crept into the village, sheltering themselves from the main road with buildings.

It was a very small village, actually. There were about a dozen homes on this street alone followed by a large gap and more buildings on the other side. The spacing was strange.

Hammering sounded further up the road and the group had to race to get closer from where they were now, a large gap between buildings. They managed to stay out of sight and hid themselves behind another house. They moved from one to another until the banging was so close, they didn't feel comfortable going any farther.

They slipped into a narrow alley and peered across the street.

A building was being erected out of the stolen lumber from the warehouse and the other supplies were in piles nearby where people helped themselves. And not just any people. The shinobi from the Leaf. They were the builders.

A loud rumbling came from up the road and a house made entirely out of wood stood where there was no house before. Yamato stood in front of it, hand sign before his chest. Once the house was in place, he dropped his hands to his side and stepped back.

Children watching the spectacle clapped and cheered as if watching a performance. One child went up to Yamato to offer him a drink from a paper cup.

Sarada grew tense as soon as she saw the young children. Their presence told her that this was an average village filled with common civilians.

Looking around, she saw more evidence of this. There were elderly people resting on stacks of lumber and in folding chairs by the side of the road. They were being served drinks by the children who ran from one person to another and back to a large keg near the adults. Though they were just dispensing water from the kegs, there was something else Sarada noticed about the operator.

The woman standing by the keg had a broken arm in a sling. She used her good arm to push down on the dispenser while a child held the empty cup under it.

A man with crutches was helping her and near the elderly people was a man sitting in a chair sporting casts on both legs.

There were tents lined up near the road and the man she had seen getting items from the pharmacy was coming out of one and going into another. Then the man went over to a house, knocked and was welcomed inside with his bottle of antibiotics.

Sarada wasn't sure what was going on but she didn't believe anything heinous was to come from these actions. The people under the genjutsu weren't preparing for war, they were helping people.

Boruto clenched his fists when he spotted the two people on ladders constructing the building across the street from him. Sai was hammering away at the top of a ladder while Konohamaru climbed onto the roof to start laying down shingles.

Kakashi wordlessly supported a wooden frame as several people lifted it into place with ropes. Iwabe used his jutsu to help with the foundation of another building soon to be started. A few shinobi were already working on the outer framework.

Boruto scanned the people working on the construction, hoping to find the caster of the jutsu. He focused on the people he didn't recognize from the village but none of them fit what he thought would be the mastermind. Most of them were teenagers and a few adults.

A couple of laughing children raced by their hiding spot in a game of chase, stopping to speak to a blond woman near the elderly.

"The ninja are doing super great work, Hachi."

"Yeah, they're almost done with this house already. And that one went up in seconds."

"That one's super strong. Bet he could do all the houses in a day, right?"

"Now, now," said the familiar woman. "It's best to work together rather than to leave it all on one person. Building a house that quickly must take a lot out of him. Go see if he needs something to build up his strength."

"Ok!" the young girls chirped.

Sarada eyed the woman. "Hey, isn't that..?"

"Shino-sensei's girlfriend," Mitsuki finished. "Hachi."

"But I thought she was at the other village."

"Perhaps this is her true village and she was just visiting that other one."

Boruto narrowed his eyes at the woman.

She was there with Shino and after he returned to the village, everything started happening. The warehouse, the people. It couldn't be a coincidence.

Hachi said something to the elders then moved away to speak to the shinobi retrieving materials from the piles laid out before them.

"Do we have enough supports now? And these nails, are they good? Strong enough?"

"Yes," answered Iruka. "The operator of the warehouse assured their quality. They will support the framework."

"What about Shou?" Hachi asked. "How's his fever?"

"It's gone down," Kakashi answered without turning around.

As he held a wall in place to be hammered in, another ninja continued near Hachi so the sound of the hammer and drill would not drown him out.

"He still has no interest in food but his mother is making him drink to stay hydrated."

"Ow!" A teenage boy dropped the screwdriver he had been working with on the ground and clutched his wrist.

"What happened?" Hachi asked the boy.

A shinobi working beside him glanced over at the boy's hand then Iruka answered without looking their way.

"There is no outer injury. Probably just a cramp."

"Take a break," Hachi told the boy. "I told you, it would take ages to screw those in by hand."

"But the drills are all being used," he complained. "If we want this to get done…"

"No need," said Iruka. "Another drill has been purchased."

A parcel was unwrapped by a different ninja and an automatic drill, still shining like new, was removed and handed to a teenage girl. She held it awkwardly, turning it over to see how to operate it.

"Squeeze the trigger on the handle to use it," Sai said without looking away from his work. He was directly above her so she could hear him perfectly.

"This one?" she asked, pointing.

"Yes," five ninja said at once from different locations. "The tighter you squeeze, the faster it will rotate."

"Thanks." The girl went to take over where they boy left off. Startled by its power, the drill vibrated recklessly away from its mark and across the wood. A passing ninja took her wrist and guided it back to where it needed to be. "Thanks," she said again and was able to drill without anyone's support.

"Need these?" a man asked Sai, holding up a bucket of nails.

"I have enough but the building over there beside that man could use more. He has only two remaining."

"Wow, thanks. I'll get these two him."

Mitsuki nodded his head, having seen all he needed to understand. "It's a hivemind type of situation," he said to the others, and to himself. "They are all aware of what the other is doing and, though they can perform separate acts, they have lost most of their individuality."

"You saw that, too, right?" Sarada whispered. "If one sees something, they all see it. That's why Iruka didn't have to look. The other shinobi did and that meant Iruka was aware of it, too."

"Very efficient," Mitsuki commented. "When it comes to construction, this level of awareness and communication is invaluable."

"She's the one," Boruto said, ignoring what the others were talking about. "That Hachi woman. She's the caster, I know it."

"Ok," said Sarada. "Now that we know that, we can go back to the Leaf to get reinforcements."

"No way." Boruto refused. He wouldn't even look at her. "We're here now. We can handle this ourselves. Why go back?"

"Because we had to gather information. Now that we know where they are and what the situation is, we can go back to the Leaf, inform the higher-ups and they can take over from there."

Boruto whipped around. "No way! Why go all the way back when we're here now? It's a waste of time. We can handle this. It's our job."

"Our job for this mission was to learn and gather intel. Now that we have, we need to go back and get reinforcements. We'll stand a better chance if we have more people. Get that through your head."

"Going back now would be the same as saying, 'I saw the bad guys and got scared. Help me because I'm too weak to do it myself.' We're shinobi, you know. We can't just turn around when things get difficult. No one will ever take us seriously."

"Is that what this is about?" Sarada asked, thinking back to past missions. "To prove yourself? You can't just go charging in and call it bravery. And you can't just attack somebody and call it strength. You need a plan and you need to be smart. How do we know she won't use that same jutsu on you?"

"What if she uses it on the reinforcements? It'll be the same no matter what."

"No, having more people raises the chance of success because she won't be able to hit everyone at once. With a plan…"

"The plan is to attack and take her down," Boruto interrupted. "Once we defeat her, everyone will go back to normal and we'll have our backup right here. Get it?"

Sarada shook her head. Boruto put all his faith in his success and believed he could free them all and once that happened, the freed shinobi would rally around them to stop Hachi. What he wasn't taking into account was the possibility of failure. If he was unable to defeat Hachi, no one would be freed. Which also meant something else.

"If you can't get to her fast enough, they'll all rush in to stop you. All it takes is one, Boruto."

"One what?"

"One member of the hivemind," explained Mitsuki. "If one sees you, they all see you. If that happens, they'll all attack at once. It will no longer be you against Hachi but you against her and her army of shinobi."

"Mitsuki's right. Think this through. And there's something else that's really important you've got to take into account."

"What?" he asked, impatiently.

"Look around." Sarada pointed to the street full of civilians. "Those are innocent people out there running around. And a lot of them are already injured. See the casts on that one guy? He can't even get up to run away. And those little kids… If we fight here and now, we'll be putting them in danger. What if a stray attack hits one of them? You want to be responsible for that?"

Boruto looked at the elderly people watching the children race around completely unaware of the ninja plotting just a stone's throw away from where they were.

Those innocent civilians would be a problem. Sarada also had a point of the shinobi under Hachi's control. They were shinobi, after all. If Boruto was seen, they would be fast enough to catch him and restrain him.

This didn't discourage Boruto, however. He still wanted to act but he was more willing to plan his attack out rather than charge right in.

If he could get close enough and have a clear shot…

Hachi started moving again. Boruto kept his eyes on her, bending his knees as he prepared to spring.

"Not all these people seem to be under genjutsu," commented Sarada. "Seems only the people from our village are. Those people working on that building over there seem normal. If we attack and they defend, those supports could come down on those civilians. It doesn't have to be an actual attack that hurts them. We can't startle them."

"I could hold her in place," Mitsuki offered. "But she'll have to be close. There's only so far I can stretch."

"I don't think it's wise to attack right now. I insist we go back to the Leaf. We'll carry Boruto kicking and screaming if we have to. Taking action now isn't safe for either party."

Mitsuki's expression changed slightly as he saw Boruto crouch low with a kunai in hand, Hachi very close to their hiding spot.

"I don't think Boruto wants us to have an option."

Sarada spun around but it was too late to stop him.

Boruto sprang out of the alley and onto the street, landing directly in front of Hachi.

Surprised, she tried to take a step back but two long arms had wrapped themselves around her ankles. Boruto jumped, kunai raised high.

Every shinobi froze and turned to look in their direction in perfect unison.

CLANG!

Something blocked Boruto's kunai.

"I'm sorry, Boruto."

Boruto's mouth fell open in shock.

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you hurt her."

* * *

Please review! ^-^


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11:**

"I'm sorry, but I can't let you hurt her."

"Shino-sensei."

Shino pushed Boruto's kunai back with his own then addressed Mitsuki whose arms quickly unraveled from around Hachi's legs. "Don't try that again. You and Boruto know firsthand what happens when I get serious."

Mitsuki stepped beside Boruto, arms hidden in his sleeves.

Shino glanced around. "No doubt Sarada's with you. I'm guessing she's hiding in that alleyway over there."

With no point in hiding, Sarada came out of her hiding place to stand with Boruto and Mitsuki.

"There's not going to be a fight," Shino told them sternly but calmly. "Odds are you already know it won't end in your favor."

He turned his head slightly to indicate the shinobi across the street, already poised for battle. Every eye was upon them.

Hachi looked at them and waved them off. "It's ok. No harm done. Go back to what you were doing."

The shinobi turned at her command and went back to work.

If they had taken part in the fight, the Genin knew they didn't stand a chance.

Seeing them resume their work, Boruto felt confident enough to round on Shino.

"Shino-sensei, I know she's your girlfriend, but you shouldn't defend her. Look what she did to all those Leaf ninja."

Shino confessed, "Actually, I had a hand in it as well."

"What?" Boruto didn't understand. Did this mean Shino and Hachi were working together?

"I agreed to help her," Shino explained. "You see, we found a way to combine our jutsu to result in this." He gestured to the shinobi doing construction work.

"Then she is a shinobi," said Mitsuki.

"Not officially," said Shino. "She is one of the few survivors of her clan who can use this particular jutsu. Her family was wiped out years ago and raised in this village. She never became an official shinobi and can only use two jutsu, both of which relate to her clan exclusively."

Learning this, Boruto was confident that he could have easily taken her out if Shino hadn't interfered. Knowing only two moves and never gaining the title of 'ninja' made her a weak opponent. At least, that's what he believed.

"Her ability is known as the Queen Bee Jutsu," explained Shino. "It turns those infected into her subjects she can then command and gaining what is known as a hivemind."

"That's why everyone seems to be an extension of a single person," Sarada interjected. "Everyone aware of what another is doing and experiencing."

"And why they tend to speak in unison or finish each other's sentences," added Mitsuki.

"Yes," said Shino. "But it's a very taxing jutsu and a lot of needs must be met. Under normal circumstances, she would only be able to maintain this control over about five people for a certain length of time. However, by combining her jutsu with my parasitic insects, we've been able to acquire this many people which can be controlled for a longer duration."

"Let me guess," said Mitsuki. "Your insects select a host and pump this jutsu into them using chakra from different sources, maintaining control and easing the stress on the caster."

Shino nodded. "It's a bit more complicated than that but that is the basic idea. I infect the ninja and Hachi, as the queen bee, controls them."

There were probably parasitic insects on every one of the people infected. The people were able to live normal lives but were under Hachi's influence, meaning that the people would subconsciously lie or evade certain questions if it involved the tasks they had to keep secret. This explained why Sai falsified his reports on the warehouse.

It seemed that while they weren't carrying out an order, they were their normal selves except for them subconsciously lying about where they were or what they were doing while performing those tasks. Then, when they had a task to do, they slipped into this state and gave the same excuse for why they had to suddenly leave without drawing too much attention to themselves.

This explained why the people were normal most of the time, then, when the hivemind kicked in, they became one, losing their individuality for a time.

"Why would you do this?" Boruto asked, fists clenched tight. "Aren't those people your friends? How could you do this to them? You've only just met your girlfriend but you've known them for years, you know. Don't you think this counts as betrayal? Why would you do this to your fellow ninja?"

Shino fidgeted slightly. "Well… I can't really help it."

"Why not?"

Mitsuki understood. "The second jutsu."

Boruto looked from Mitsuki to Shino.

Shino started to blush. "I… I'm under the influence of powerful pheromones."

"Phero-what?"

"It's the chemical compound that makes boys like girls," Mitsuki explained. "There are others but I'm sure this is the one he's referring to. Basically, it's like an aphrodisiac."

Shino nodded his head without a word, looking almost embarrassed.

"In other words, she's controlling you, too," Boruto said angrily.

"I'm not part of the hivemind, Boruto. Can't you tell from the way I'm acting?"

"But she's still controlling you. If you were in your right mind, you'd never go along with this."

"I am in my right mind. I just can't help it."

Shino was fully aware of his actions and did all this willingly. The pheromones just made it difficult for him to deny her. He wanted to please her. Even knowing what he was being asked to do, he felt the need to do it and carried out any order she gave him.

He wanted to do what she said. However…

"It still sounds like control to me. That's the only reason you're helping her," Boruto reasoned.

"It's a bit more complicated than that," Shino tried to tell him. There was another reason for his compliance. Why he wasn't fighting too strongly against the desire to obey.

"Look what she's doing to the shinobi of the Leaf!" Boruto gestured with his arm to the people hard at work around them. "She's made them her slaves! It's cruel."

Hachi peered around Shino's back to look at the blond boy. "Cruel? Slaves? Granted, my method may be questionable, but I don't think I'm doing something so horrible. All things considered, I'm treating them quite well."

Boruto scoffed. "You're forcing them to work for you."

"Yes, but I am not running them ragged. They are allowed to rest whenever they need it. I provide them with food and drinks, medical treatment if needed. And they are not the only ones working. My people are working with them. It's not like we're standing around watching them work. We're all taking part to the best of our abilities."

"You can try to justify it any way you want, lady, but nothing gives you the right to do this. What you're doing is wrong!" Boruto told her. "What gives you the right to think you can do this to Leaf ninja?"

"Because Leaf ninja are responsible for what happened to my village!" Hachi snapped.

"What?" Boruto didn't believe her. "We never attacked your village. I would have heard of it."

"You didn't attack it, but a shinobi from your village is still responsible for what happened."

Boruto thought it was a phony excuse but Shino looked serious.

Sarada took another look around at the tents stationed beside the road and the many people sporting casts.

"What happened?" she asked Hachi, curious.

Boruto didn't think it mattered. What Hachi was doing was wrong. She didn't have to explain it to them. Albeit, he was a little curious himself and didn't stop her from explaining.

"My village was having a problem with bandits," Hachi explained. "We couldn't handle it ourselves and it was beginning to be too much, so we put in a mission request to the Leaf for help. They sent a single shinobi to help stop the bandits and he did. He defeated and captured them all."

Boruto threw his hands into the air. "See? The village helped you, so why are you so mad at the Leaf? They did their job, didn't they?"

"Yeah, they did," she said angrily. "By wrecking our village! The shinobi who helped wanted to stop the last few bandits from running away, so he used a powerful elemental jutsu which did stop them from getting away, but demolished half the village in the process. In a single blow, half our village was gone!"

Sarada felt her heart pound in her chest.

That was why there was such a wide-open space between the houses. Buildings once stood there but were destroyed by a ninja's jutsu.

"When he did it…" Hachi continued, her jaw clenched. "When he did that, he had no regard for the people still inside. So many people were crushed under their own homes. We had to dig them out ourselves while he handled the bandits. So many injured civilians… all because of that jutsu he used."

All those people wearing casts and hobbling around on crutches were victims. The tents were to house those who lost their homes in the blast. It all made sense.

"But he rid our village of the bandits. He did his job. After he collected his pay and started to leave, we stopped him and asked about the state of our village. We asked if he was going to do anything about it. He refused. He said it wasn't his problem."

Hachi scoffed and Shino looked at the ground, ashamed.

"We told the ninja he caused the damage to our village. He destroyed half of our homes. Surely, he should help us in some way. It was his jutsu that caused it. He said his mission was to capture the bandits and rid our village of them. Nowhere did it say he had to clean up his mess."

"So he just left you like that?" Sarada asked, horrified and angry.

Hachi nodded. "We asked him what we were to do now. How we would rebuild. We didn't have the materials necessary. Many of our people were injured. Our village's handymen suffered broken limbs. We couldn't ask them to climb a ladder, much less wield a hammer. We needed help. And you know what the shinobi said to us? He said if we needed help rebuilding our village, we needed to put in another mission request to the Leaf."

"He wouldn't help you at all?"

Hachi shook her head. "Our village isn't very well off. After what the bandits took, we pooled what little we had left for the first mission request. We didn't have any funds left for a second request to the Leaf. We didn't have any funds at all. We couldn't hire carpenters to come help us, we couldn't even ask for help from another ninja village. We were completely on our own."

Hachi told them how her village tried to pick up on their own. They had to do everything on their own. Neighbors took in the homeless, but there wasn't enough room for everyone. Those with homes didn't have space for any extra and those who did were filled up fast. The ones no one could fit set up tents outside, living in them until their homes could be rebuilt.

Those who were injured were treated but couldn't do much of anything until they recovered. Some were fortunate enough to be taken in by their neighbors but others had to stay in tents which only made things worse. Some people were exposed to the elements and became ill. With so many people injured and sick, the village was running out of medicine to treat them.

Those who were in good health tried to help rebuild but few of them had any experience. Most had never built anything more complicated than a shelf before and were now tasked with constructing a house. Those who could tried to teach them from their recovery beds but it was slow going.

They managed to clear the debris left by the blast and gathered what was salvageable. It wasn't enough to build even a single house, let along the dozen or so the shinobi destroyed.

"It took us a month to get this far and we've barely been able to build even one house," Hachi told them. "As a result, my people became more and more furious with the Leaf, saying that it was all their fault. If that ninja hadn't been so reckless, half the village wouldn't be homeless. They wanted to know if all Leaf ninja operated that way. If the missions were just means for money and nothing more, which was why the shinobi refused to help. He was trying to gauge us for more cash. Many began to hate the Leaf for this and others wanted to demand they fix our village and not charge us."

She had heard it for a solid month. How they scrounged up what little money they had to hire the Leaf's assistance and soon came to regret it. How many thought the Leaf had swindled them and would never ask for help from them again. How they should have just dealt with the bandits because this was a worse alternative. How many didn't hate the village but didn't trust them either. How some were so desperate, they were trying to come up with any way they could to get money. Some went to other villages to ask for volunteers but no one would come. Not if there was no payment involved.

"Finally, I offered to go to the Leaf Village myself and either beg or demand they help us rebuild," said Hachi. "My people tried to talk me out of it, saying the Leaf would probably refuse to see me unless I had money to give them. How they might charge me just to enter the village. How it wouldn't be of any use and how the village might make things worse. How I couldn't trust them. But I had to do something."

"So that other village was just one you were passing through on your way from your home to our village," said Mitsuki.

"Correct. That's when I saw you three and Shino. I saw that you were Leaf ninja and thought I could talk to you," said Hachi. "I really am an entomologist and I do like Shino. Once we started talking, I thought if I could stay on his good side, it would be easier to convince him to help our village. But as we talked and I learned more about him, I thought there was another way to do this."

"And that's why you did this," said Sarada. "You didn't think there was another way or that the Leaf would help you."

"And that's the other reason Shino-sensei is willing to help," added Mitsuki.

Hachi nodded again. "I know from your perspective what I'm doing is wrong, but if the Leaf shinobi hadn't done what he did and if our people weren't in such a state because of him… I thought it was only fair. It's only fair that Leaf shinobi should clean up an unnecessary mess made by a Leaf shinobi."

Boruto was about to interject when a male voice from behind stopped him.

"You're absolutely right," said Shikamaru, walking up from behind the Genin.

"Shikamaru, what are you..?" Boruto began.

"You made it pretty easy to follow you. I was gathering clues when I discovered all this, saw what was going on and did a little snooping of my own. I overheard the whole thing from over there."

Shikamaru stood beside Boruto with his hands in his pockets. Shino knew the lazy gesture and sensing no hostility from his friend, did not try to block Hachi from him, allowing them to talk.

"I'm pretty sure I know how you did this," said Shikamaru. "Including the order and method. We already know Shino's bugs were involved. After you told him what happened, coupled with some pheromones, he became willing to help you. I'm betting the first people he infected were the two guards at the gate. How else could you guys come and go so easily without anyone noticing? All those materials would be difficult to carry over the wall and you'd be easily spotted. Best way not to draw attention is to leave through the main door, right?"

He suspected this was the case, not only because of the reason he just explained, but because rarely would shinobi request to be put on guard duty when they could be having fun or doing more glamorous missions. Usually there was an ulterior motive involved, the most common of which relating to keeping a date or a party. Often times shinobi would request being put on guard duty at certain times so they would not be asked to do it when they had something else planned, which was why the guards volunteering those dates and times wasn't that unusual so it took a while for him to truly notice.

"I'm guessing you infected Konohamaru first," Shikamaru went on. "Then it became about opportunity. Hench Iruka, seeing as how you frequent the same place. You not only selected able-bodied people but ones who had knowledge and skills you required. Like the owner of the warehouse. He knows what goes in and out of there, where everything is and the functions of those items. He knew things went missing which was why he called it in. Then he got infected and that was why he decided not to pursue the matter any further. Sai got infected when he went to investigate per my request. Shinobi with wood and earth style jutsu were also targeted. Basically, Shino was allowed to pick the ones he felt were needed most, so he had free choice. Hachi wouldn't know about ninja or their skills, would you? So Shino had a couple useful skills, huh?"

Hachi didn't deny any of it. She kept her eyes downcast until Shikamaru said something that surprised almost everyone there.

"Granted, your method is ethically ambiguous, but I think you're right to do this."

"What?"

"Huh?!" Boruto gaped at him. "But Shikamaru, she-"

"I know what she did. But I agree that if a Leaf shinobi did this kind of damage to her village, a Leaf Shinobi should clean it up. It may be troublesome but it's important."

Shikamaru looked back at Boruto and his friends.

"This is why we tell you that when you leave on missions, you represent our village. What you say and do reflects on us all," he said. "You heard what she said. Because of the actions of one Leaf ninja, her village came to believe that we were underhanded and irresponsible. They lost trust in us and trust is something very hard to build back up once it's torn down. Even if they could afford it, you really think they're going to contact us again in the future? If we develop a negative reputation, word will spread. People will recommend against us which will not only lead to a drop in requests, which effects how we live, but people may come to see us as enemies and we can't have that."

"Yeah, but…" Boruto said timidly, quickly losing the will to argue against everything he just said, knowing it was true.

Shikamaru stepped forward to speak directly to Hachi. "If the Hokage had known a shinobi of the Leaf did this to you, he would have never let it slide. When the ninja gave his report, he never mentioned this. We had no way of knowing. I'm sorry. But I promise we will make it up to you."

Hachi gave him a hopeful and confused look. "Really? After all this? I thought…"

Shikamaru cracked a smile. "The Hokage isn't some tyrant. If he had known what that one shinobi did to you, he never would have let him leave you like this. Once I explain this to him, I'm sure he'll agree to help you. And don't worry about the funds. It was a mistake, so please allow us to clean it up."

Hachi was overjoyed to hear this news.

"Of course, if you want our help, would you mind… you know?" Shikamaru glanced over to the shinobi and back. "Only seems fair."

Hachi looked back and forth then nodded to Shikamaru. "Of course."

She turned her body to work but was interrupted by two villagers. One was a man with a crutch and the other was a child.

"Hachi, no," said the man. "If you release them, they could go back on their word and we can't stop them. Release them after the village is repaired."

"But the ninja doesn't seem like a bad guy," said the child. "He promised to help us."

"You saw what happened last time," said the man. "What's stopping them from doing it again?"

Sarada and Shikamaru couldn't blame the man for being skeptical. His broken leg was probably doing most of the talking. The child was more forgiving and willing to trust in the promise made by a sincere shinobi.

"Trust works both ways," said Shino. "I am a member of the Leaf as well. This is a friend of mine and adviser to the Hokage. He does not break his word. I trust him, so I think you can, too."

Hachi valued Shino's input and smiled. "I agree. I only did this because I thought there was no other way for the Leaf to help. If there's another way, then I'm willing to try it."

The man and child stepped back to allow them to work. The child seemed pleased but the man frowned, hoping she was not making a mistake.

"Shino, help me, please."

"Sure."

Shino and Hachi stood side by side, extending their arms toward the shinobi working diligently.

Tiny insects began to gather around them and fly back to Shino and Hachi. As they returned to Shino's body, Hachi and Shino held hands and performed a series of hand signs with the other.

"And… release!"

The once organized shinobi stopped working and looked around. They seemed to regain their normality with quiet confusion and murmurs. It was unclear if they had any recollection of what they had been doing or if they were aware and just couldn't help themselves.

When they saw Shikamaru and Shino speaking to the villagers, they regained a sense of calm, knowing there was nothing to be alarmed about.

Shikamaru addressed the shinobi and villagers together, letting them know that their village would be rebuilt using ninja hands. However, first they had to return to the Leaf to get the Hokage's approval and a plan. Some of the villagers seemed uncertain they would return, but others were willing to trust again thanks to Shikamaru's diplomatic way of handling the situation.

Shino himself offered to remain in the village until relief came to provide additional reassurance, but everyone suspected he only volunteered because of the pheromones he was still affected by.

Shikamaru found Boruto standing in front of the open field where houses once stood looking thoughtful and uncertain.

"You alright?" he asked the boy.

Boruto stared out over the open field of soil, trying to imagine what it once looked like. It felt so empty.

He looked down. "What the woman did was wrong. She manipulated all those people. We shouldn't be helping her. But…" He frowned harder, conflicted. "But… if a shinobi did this, he should have done something about it, you know. Not leave them like this. And all those people he hurt. I bet he didn't even say he was sorry."

Shikamaru sighed. "There are things that people don't teach you because they expect you to know or think someone else will teach it to you," he said. "One of those things is responsibility on missions. If there's a fight, there will be collateral damage. You can't help that sometimes. However, if it's a populated village, usually shinobi will try to lure the enemy to an open area where there's less people. And sometimes the enemy won't be lured and will use the village to their advantage, even using innocent people as a shield, trusting your unwillingness to put them in danger."

"I know that. Big Bro Konohamaru tells us to do it all the time."

"Would you have done it if he hadn't mentioned it?"

Boruto was about to give an affirmative answer when he realized he hadn't always considered not attacking the moment he saw the enemy. On one mission, he attacked the instant he saw them on the street. He had put people in danger. He protected them, of course, but if he had tried a different approach, they wouldn't have needed saving.

Many times, his only concern was defeating the enemy, he attacked without thinking, believing it would work out exactly as he wanted to.

He didn't think he was as bad as the shinobi who did this, but it did give him pause.

Shikamaru chuckled. "There was a mission your father went on when he was about your age where he ended up wrecking a fence while trying to handle the animals that got loose. All the animals were caught and he was about to leave when the farmer told him he had to repair the fence he broke otherwise the animals would get out again."

"Well, duh."

"But I doubt he would have if the guy hadn't handed him a hammer to do it. It wasn't his mission. But it did teach him something. His whole team, too. You make the mess, you clean it up." Shikamaru stuck his hands in his pockets. "Some already know it's the right thing to do but others… And sometimes, the village does not care and can fix it themselves or the damage was done to the land and not their homes so they don't mind."

"But this…" Boruto gestured to the field.

"Yup. This was something that guys needed to report and do something about. Even my team wouldn't leave until we finished cleaning up, as troublesome as it was." Shikamaru frowned. "The fact that the guy never reported it tells me either he did not care or that he knew he had messed up and didn't want us finding out about it."

Thankfully, it was easy to find out. The Leaf kept a log of every mission. They knew the details of each mission, where it was located and the ninja dispatched to those missions and when. Knowing this happened a month ago, Shikamaru could easily look it up and find the shinobi and haul him into the office.

"Chances are, if he had somebody with him, he wouldn't have left the way he did. Probably thought he wouldn't get caught."

Boruto looked up at Shikamaru. "I get why she did it and I know it's the right thing to do to help them out, but isn't this just letting them have their way and that's wrong? Threaten the Leaf and you get what you want?"

"That is not the lesson, Boruto, and you know it. She could have invaded the Leaf and raged war on us but she didn't. She could have hurt us and she didn't. All she wants is her village repaired. She's not demanding anything else. I think we can arrange that and call this whole thing a wash."

"It just cancels out like that?"

"We did it, we clean it. Simple as that." Shikamaru turned. "Let's grab everybody and get back to the Leaf. I'm tired."

* * *

One chapter left!

Please review! ^-^


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12:**

Gathered at a restaurant were Sai, Choji, Shino and Shikamaru. The foursome decided to catch up over a meal shortly after returning from Hachi's village. Shikamaru was late in coming but when he finally arrived, the food was waiting on the table for him.

"Sorry I'm late," he apologized as he took a seat beside Choji.

"More work, huh?"

"Yup."

"I'm guessing the village thing is just adding to the pile."

"Actually, that's not too bad. Naruto's handling most of it. Not to mention how a lot of you guys actually volunteered to assist. I'm kind of surprised."

"Because of the whole hivemind thing?" Sai asked. "Honestly, it wasn't that bad."

"In hindsight or personal experience?"

"Both, I suppose," he answered. "It didn't hurt and I knew what I was doing for part of it."

"What was it like?" Choji asked.

Sai looked at the wall. "I'm not sure how to describe it. It's like… It was sort of like feeling someone call you without words. One minute I'm doing something, then this strong sense of duty takes over and you're compelled to drop everything to fulfil it."

"So you still knew where you were and who everyone was?"

"Hm? Oh, yes, I did. Like when I was speaking to Shikamaru. I knew who he was even when it kicked in. That was part of why I felt I needed to be discreet about certain things around him."

Choji started piling meat on the grill between them. "I'm still trying to wrap my head around this hivemind thing. Sounds complicated. How could you be aware of what everyone's doing at the same time? I think my head would explode."

"Honestly, it felt no different from when your clone disappears and you gain their experience."

"It feels just like that?"

"Yes, only on a larger scale. And it's not gaining it after the fact but at that moment, if that makes sense."

Shikamaru looked over at Shino and said, "You're being awfully quiet over there."

Shino looked up. "Oh. Sorry."

"Thinking about your girlfriend?" Choji asked.

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Broke up, did you?"

Shino didn't answer.

"Would be kind of hard to have a relationship after that, I'd think," said Shikamaru. "Not knowing if your feelings are the real thing or just pheromones talking."

"It's not that," said Shino. "I really do like her."

"Then what's the problem?" asked Choji.

"I just see her as more of a friend than dating material, I suppose."

"Awkward after all this?"

Shino shook his head. "No, that's not it. I have fun talking to her and we have common interests. I just don't feel romantically invested. She felt the same way so it's mutual."

Sai glanced his way. "You didn't end the relationship because of all the attention you were getting, did you?"

Shino looked at his lap, a sweat drop appearing on the side of his face.

"Seriously?"

"For that? Man, for somebody who wanted attention…"

"It's not… like that." Shino grew tense.

"Then what is it?" asked Choji.

"Not a fan of gossip?" asked Sai.

"Alright, alright," Shikamaru interfered. "That's enough. Feelings are hard, a man needs some secrets, it's none of our business. Take your pick."

"I'm still amazed that I became fascinating just because I had interest in a woman," said Shino. "What does that say about me?"

"That you're more peculiar than I am," Sai offered with a smile.

Shino hung his head. "That doesn't help."

"So what's the situation with Hachi's village, anyway?" asked Choji as he flipped the meat. "I heard it's being worked on but I don't know the details."

Shikamaru filled him in.

"Naruto learned what happened and as soon as he did, just as I thought, he offered to help. I got a bunch of builders to go over there and help them with construction. He agreed that no village should have been left in such a state. Some people who were infected offered to help, too. Yamato is one of them. Even Kakashi said he didn't mind going over there and help smooth things over. The guy acted like he was surprised by how well-received he was by the women of the village. Makes sense for him to try to calm them down, being so popular."

"He knows," Sai commented. Even he could tell Kakashi was well aware of the effect he had on women and seemed to enjoy it.

"What about the guy responsible?" Choji followed up. "He on probation? Get the money he earned taken away? Was he made to help them rebuild? I doubt they would be happy to see him after that, or even trust him to do a good job."

"Naruto wanted to make sure he learned responsibility so he would be unlikely to pull that stunt again in the future, but he and I both worried the guy might take his frustrations out on the villagers and do a poor job with the construction. So we decided to give him a different job."

"Oh?"

"Yup. The guy's responsible for transport. He'll be bringing the supplies and people to them until the job's done. He'll be monitored the whole time to make sure there's no funny business and he won't be going on any solo missions for some time."

"Not until he proves he can be trusted, huh?"

"Either the guy wanted to show off his power or he was lazy and wanted to get it done quickly. He never really offered an explanation for what he was thinking, but he got to keep his paycheck."

"I'll be heading over there in a couple days to help out again," said Sai. "It's been kind of slow lately and I honestly don't mind."

"The more hands helping makes short work," added Shino.

"I heard you're going back there, too."

Shino hesitated before explaining, "Well, they do seem to trust me. Plus, I do enjoy speaking with Hachi about insects."

"We're sure the pheromones wore off, right?" Choji asked as he took the meat off the grill and started distributing it around the table.

"Shut up," Shino muttered.

* * *

Boruto took his time leaving the house that day, taking in his home slowly, noting every step, every photo and every toy in his sister's room. How his mother kept the blankets neatly folded and the coffee table clear, the windows shining like new and the dishes washed and put away in the cupboards.

He took so long, Mitsuki was waiting for him by the gate, peering over the mailbox.

"Why the look?" he asked Boruto when he saw him.

"What look?"

"You seem to be contemplating something," Mitsuki answered, staring at his face. "Are you still thinking about what happened the other day? The adults seemed to have gotten over it."

Many of the infected people seemed to dismiss the incident as soon as they returned to normal. Some were upset at being manipulated, including Iwabe. He was furious and wanted revenge, but after learning what had caused all this, he quickly lowered his weapon and his rage disappeared.

It seemed once they learned a Leaf shinobi was responsible for what happened, none of them wanted to take action against Hachi's village, feeling they had suffered enough and that it would only confirm their suspicions that Leaf shinobi were malicious.

Kakashi probably helped the most by example. He was calm about the whole thing and the shinobi's admiration for the sixth Hokage helped quell their anger and were willing to forget this whole thing ever happened.

"You still think it's undeserved, don't you?" Mitsuki asked Boruto, still studying his face and trying to read his mind. "If you want justice, why not go back to that village and demolish the buildings erected by shinobi hands? That should make things even."

Boruto glared at him. "That's a terrible thing to say. There's no way I'd do that."

Mitsuki blinked.

"Hachi was the one who did it, but those people are innocent, you know. Besides, if we did that, that would make us the enemy and then we can't be trusted. Just like Shikamaru said."

Mitsuki nodded. "I understand. I certainly wouldn't want to cause trouble or make you the enemy in someone's eyes if it can be avoided."

"And also…" Boruto looked at the ground. "I'm thinking about what Shikamaru and Old Man Kakashi said to me when we were going home."

Mitsuki realized Boruto's expression was the result of further reflection to their words, not the incident itself.

"So that's the look."

Boruto kept his eyes down when he said, "When they saw how conflicted I was about the whole thing, they told me something. They said, 'If your family hired someone to do some work around your house and ended up demolishing half of it and injuring your sister, what would you do?' And I totally got it."

Not only did he realize their point but Boruto couldn't rule out the thought crossing his mind as it did Hachi's. He might have done the same thing if it was an option.

It also made him realize the purpose of control over a powerful jutsu and to not show off recklessly. The ninja might have just wanted to get the mission over with quickly and overdid it. Boruto had felt the same way about certain missions, but believed he was different from that shinobi. At the very least, he would have apologized.

If he had hurt someone with his jutsu, Boruto didn't know what he'd do.

He wanted to show off but he knew not to put people at risk to do it.

It also made him think about the lesser missions he often complained about, like mending fences. It was obviously important to someone and they wouldn't have asked for help if they could do it themselves.

Now Jonin were going to Hachi's village to help rebuild.

The refusal to do so because it was beneath them resulted in something Boruto never predicted.

Maybe this was the right thing to do. To just do the right thing and forget about what happened. Hachi did have good reason to do it and Boruto couldn't really blame her anymore.

"Guess Shikadai shouldn't have overlooked the whole warehouse thing," said Mitsuki, smiling again. "He was suspicious until he heard what was going on then just wrote it off. I wonder what he would have done if we brought him with us."

"Well, we don't really have to talk about it anymore," said Boruto. "It's already handled so there's no point in gossiping."

"Konohamaru-sensei was also a good sport about it," said Mitsuki. "You think when we're done training, he'll head over there to help more?"

"I don't know. And I said we didn't have to talk about it anymore. The adults are fine with it and even Iwabe got over it when he found out what happened. There's no reason to bring it up anymore. Even I'm over it."

Mitsuki looked at Boruto's face as they walked.

Then he smiled.

"Yes, I think you're right."

Boruto didn't seem troubled by it anymore.

"I think gossiping about it helped you get over it."

Boruto spun around. "What? Mitsuki, talking and gossiping are two different things!"

"Oh?"

"Yeah! Gossiping is what Sarada was doing about Shino-sensei."

Mitsuki thought a moment. "I see…"

"Girls gossip. Guys don't."

"Actually, boys seem to gossip, too. Just as much as girls."

"No way."

"I think it's true. I have evidence supporting it."

"Oh, really? Name one time."

"Well, even the boys were gossiping about Shino-sensei. Konohamaru-sensei, too, so it isn't just kids either."

"Other than that."

"You gossiped about Chocho having an admirer."

"That was based on evidence I misread. It was different."

"But isn't that the foundation of gossip? Spreading ideas not strongly supported by facts?"

"I had facts."

"Assumptions, actually. You were mistaken anyway."

Boruto pouted. "It's still different.

"How so?"

"It just is!"

They continued all the way to the training grounds when Sarada finally ended the debate. Boruto and Mitsuki tried to explain themselves which caused Konohamaru to look away guiltily, knowing he had caused his fair share of problems by gossiping.

Sarada, inspired by the boys, asked Konohamaru if Shino was still dating Hachi or if they ever were in the first place, thinking about the pheromones. He refused to answer, which made Sarada and Boruto press him harder for answers while Mitsuki looked on and smiled.

* * *

The end!

Hope you guys enjoyed the story and please review! Thank you! ^-^


End file.
